Lily and James: Dreams Come True
by It's Annie
Summary: (PreOotP)James moves in Lily's neighborhood and they instantly become friends. But will it turn to something more? Plz read! RR!
1. BEST FRIENDS FROM THE START

CHAPTER 1  
BEST FRIENDS FROM THE START  
  
13 year old Lily Evans was kicking a soccer ball around her front yard, her dark red hair pulled back and her emerald eyes sparkling with excitement. She was practicing hard for a soccer tournament final to be played in London. Lily was a small, sporty girl, but she wasn't obsessed with all sports, just soccer. Besides soccer, Lily loved cooking. She obviously inherited her mother, Abby's passion and talent for cooking. Lily could make a large variety of meals on her own. Lily's third passion was animals. She loves spending time at the zoo, gazing at all of the animals, even though it annoyed her older sister, Petunia.  
On that bright summer day, Lily planned to spend the whole day practicing for the soccer final, but her plans were soon disrupted. At around three o'clock, a moving truck slowly trudged up the hill. Lily was surprised to see a moving truck, but then she remembered that a family across the street had moved to the United States, leaving Lily to be one of the only children left in a neighborhood full of senior citizens.  
The van stopped in front of a house across the street and a couple houses away from Lily's. Soon a silver car came into view, apparently following the moving truck.  
"Great! Neighbors! I really hope that they have kids!" thought Lily. She ran into the house and told her parents about their new neighbors.  
Her family was excited about the neighbors for their own reasons.  
Lily's mom couldn't wait to meet them. Maybe they could throw a Welcome-to-the-neighborhood party. Abby was a total people-person! Lily's older sister Petunia wondered if the new family had any hot guys. She was in her boy-crazy stage, since she was fifteen. Lily's dad, Michael, wondered if he would have someone to talk about cars and business. Lily was wondering if they had any kids her age to play with.  
Abby exclaimed, "Lily, we should invite them over for dinner. They must be tired after a day of moving! Go ask them." Lily was glad that her mother had this idea. It would make them feel more at home and they could have a chance to meet them. She went to the new family's house and rang the doorbell. The door was shortly opened by a boy with messy black hair and bright, sparkling sapphire eyes that rival Lily's own green ones. He looked just about her age.  
"Hello, may I help you?" said the boy.  
"Hi! I'm Lily Evans. I live across the street," said Lily, wondering how his eyes could be so blue.  
"I'm James Potter. My family just moved here from America. Florida to be exact" said James.  
"Cool! My parents were just wondering if your family would like to come over for dinner. It must be hard work to move into a new house," said Lily, hoping that he'll say yes, because it looked like they could be very good friends.  
"I'll go ask my parents, but I'm sure that they'll say yes." replied James. He went into the house and came back in a few minutes. "My parents said that they'd love to. Do you want to come in?" asked James politely.  
"Thanks, but I better go tell my mom that we'll have guests. See ya! I'll come get you and your family if you want. Dinner's at 6:00. Bye!" said Lily, hurrying home. Once she got to her house, she threw on an old shirt with faded jeans and an apron on top. Then Lily skipped down the stairs and made some desserts. She made her specialties: brownies with and without nuts, apple pie, and German cake with her own special nut frosting. After her desserts were complete, she helped her mom with whatever needed to be done.  
At a quarter to six, Lily put on her best pair of jeans with a shirt that said "Angel" and sneakers, then went over to the Potter's house. She rang the doorbell twice and heard it echo through the house. Once again, James opened the door, but a boy who looked to be in his late teens was right behind him.  
"Hi James. Are you guys ready?" asked Lily looking James over. He was wearing a white shirt that was a little tight on him, showing his muscles. He also wore a pair of black, baggy pants. The muscles lifted her spirits, since that meant that James obviously wasn't a computer geek. He also had a tan and Lily was sure that if James were a little older, Petunia would have asked him out.  
"Hey what's up?" greeted James. " Oh yeah, this is my older brother, Matt. He's nineteen." said James, introducing his brother.  
"Hello, Lily. Nice to meet you." said Matt in a confident voice.  
"Hi Matt, same to you." said Lily thinking that Matt should stay away from Petunia - for his own good.  
"Lily, do you want to come in for a bit? My mom isn't quite ready yet but she'll be done in a few minutes." asked James, stepping aside for her to come in.  
"Sure. Thanks.... Wow you guys are good at this," said an awed Lily. When she stepped in, Lily noticed that the front hall and what appeared to be the living room were completely furnished. She sat down on the love seat next to James and Matt sat in a chair across from them and they chatted for a while. James and Matt wanted to know about life in England and Lily was just as curious about their American life.  
After about ten minutes, Mrs. Potter was ready, and they went off to the Evan's. In two minutes they were in the Evan's living room, and getting to know each other. Lily soon found out that Mr. Potter's name was Anthony and Mrs. Potter's was Michelle. At six fifteen, dinner began. They had a pleasant conversation. Michelle and Abby talked about their favorite things to cook. They had decided to get together one day and have a large dinner and they'll make all of their favorite foods together.  
Anthony and Michael chatted about business. It turned out that they both owned their own businesses. Michael owned a computer company and Anthony is the owner of a complicated company that he couldn't explain.  
While Petunia was staring at Matt, Matt was eating steak and looking slightly scared, James and Lily were having an interesting conversation.  
"Nu-uh, no way! You actually met Mia Hamm? She's my hero! That's not fair!" said Lily, pouting slightly.  
"Yes-huh. It is too fair. I like soccer too," said James, feeling that they could be great friends. "Too bad she's a Muggle. Though I probably could still be friends with her in the summer." You see, James and his family are witches and wizards and James is going to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Little did he know that Lily was thinking the exact same thing.  
The weeks passed by quickly and the Evans and Potters were becoming friends really fast. They would go to the park or the zoo together. It turned out that James also loved animals, so he and Lily would go off on their own, watching the animals. He even owned an owl. James had told Lily that his brother found him and nursed him back to health, but Lily didn't believe it. One of the best things about going to the zoo now was that Petunia found out that Matt also liked animals so she wouldn't sulk so much when they went to the zoo.  
  
~*~* Thanks for everybody that reviewed! Abarraine -Thanks. You were my first reviewer and I was so happy when I got your review. stagger - Thank you for reviewing. It means a lot to me. Lavinia Lavender - Thanks, but Petunia didn't know that James and Matt were wizards. I read your story and it's great. Please update soon. dracosgirl12 - Thanks. I hope you still like it. Keep writing on your story, it's really good. 


	2. A SURPRISING SIGHT

On August 5, Lily's Hogwarts letter arrived with her school supplies and she decided to go buy her school supplies the next day in Diagon Alley.  
"Hey Mom, can I have a ride to London tomorrow? I'm gonna go buy my school stuff." said Lily, at breakfast when the owl flew down.  
"Sure. What time? replied Abby.  
"How about sometime in the morning, so I can do all of my shopping." decided Lily.  
The next day, just as promised, at 11 Lily and Abby were headed towards London. Abby needed to do some shopping in London so she was bringing Petunia as well.  
"Bye Mom. Love you! Oh and by the way, Jen's mom is bringing me back home, so ya don't have to worry about it." said Lily, while getting out of the car.  
Lily stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, bought a drink and sat down, waiting for her friends. Lily's friends arrived shortly.  
"Hi Lily! I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts!" squealed Lily's best friend, Jennifer McQueen. She had long, blonde hair, blue eyes and tan skin.  
"Lily, you look sooo different!" exclaimed another friend, Bridget Carmichael. She had short, brown hair, hazel eyes and very tanned skin since she was an athlete.  
"You met a new guy, right Lil?" asked Lily's other friend, Emily Nightingale, who had shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes.  
"You guys, stop it!" whined Lily. "The only guy that I met is my new friend, James Potter, who moved in my neighborhood," she added, emphasizing the word friend, to prove her point.  
"Fine, fine" replied all of the girls, rolling their eyes.  
"Come, on. If we wanna finish our shopping, we better start now! It's already.... 11:45" said Jen, checking her watch.  
The girls finished their drinks and entered Diagon Alley. They had been shopping for about ten minutes when Jen stopped and started staring.  
"Ow! Jen, what's wrong? Hurry up and let's go." said Emily as she walked into Jen.  
"Check out that hot guy over there." said Jen, still staring.  
"Where?" asked all of the girls, looking.  
"There, oh isn't he absolutely gorgeous?" said Jen, pointing towards Quality Quidditch Supplies.  
"OH, yeah! Total cutie!" gushed Emily and Bree together. The three girls were staring, making Lily really annoyed.  
"Where is he? I want to know!!" Lily shouted, very annoyed. The other girls looked at her in mild amusement. They were used to Lily's outbursts and her short temper. Jen often said that Lily's hair matched her personality.  
"Chill, Lil. Oh, hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!" exclaimed Jen.  
"Where is he?" Lily said again, with even more irritation.  
"He's right there. The one with black hair, looking at the brooms in Quality Quidditch Supplies." Jen said, pointing. Lily looked in the direction her finger was pointing and her mouth dropped down. Oh my god! What the heck is he doing here? Lily asked herself. Lily walked toward the store, still not believing her eyes. Slowly she called, "James, is that you?" The boy suddenly turned around and Lily's eyes went, if possible, even more wide. "James! Oh my god! I can't believe that you're a wizard! Why didn't you tell me?" Lily said, running up to James to give him a hug.  
"Wow! You're a witch! I can't believe it! I didn't tell you cause I thought that you were a Muggle! This is so cool!" James exclaimed, excitement shining in his eyes, making them a bright sparkling blue. James' gaze landed on a group of three girls who were watching them with amazement. Lily also noticed her friends staring and she waved them over. "Bree, Em, Jen! Come on over! This is my friend James, you know, the one I told you about!" The three girls slowly made their way over, wondering how Lily couldn't like that guy even a little bit.  
"Hey, I have an idea! James, you could join us and if you met anyone else, they're welcome." Lily saw James going towards two boys that she recognized as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Now she knew that they would join them, since Sirius has a crush on Jen and Remus is good friends with Bree. Sure enough, the three boys came after a few moments.  
"You sure that it's okay, Lil?" James asked. To that Lily and Jen answered simultaneously, " Sure, the more, the merrier!" and promptly started giggling. The others looked clueless, so Lily managed to say, "Inside joke." before she started laughing again. Once Jen and Lily's laughter had subsided, the group of seven continued on their way. They first stopped at Madam Malkin's to buy school robes. While they were there, they also picked up dress robes, because it was on the school supply list. Next, was Flourish and Blott's, the bookstore. There, they picked up The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three, Unfogging the Future, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. While there, Lily also picked up 1002 Ways to Get Revenge and The Prankster's Book of Charms.  
"Lil, you don't look like the prankster sort. Do you really pull pranks?" asked James, not believing that someone so innocent-looking would play pranks.  
"Oh, yeah. She sure is. You don't want to make Lily or her friends mad, or she'll seek revenge!" Sirius exclaimed, coming up from behind them.  
"Sounds like you have felt the wrath of Lillian Marie Evans. What did she do to you?" asked James. He wanted to know her style, so he could play some of his own priceless pranks.  
"Let's see... Once, on April Fool's Day, Jen, Bree, Em, and me painted their hair and nails pink and we each gave 'em their own little things." said Lily proudly. She loved that day, it had been hilarious.  
"What kind of 'things'?" James asked, his curiosity growing. These girls sure as hell were original!  
"Well, whenever Remus said a word that began with a vowel, he blew bubbles, and Sirius's shoes kept changing size and color. Oh, yeah. We also hexed this kid, Peter so his hair would keep changing color. That day was great! We didn't even get in trouble for those things! In fact, Dumbledore actually awarded us some points!" Lily exclaimed, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks. James also started laughing. Pretty soon, all of them were hysterical and practically rolling on the ground, laughing. When they finally stopped, the group went to pay for their books. Next, the seven took a break and went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. They all got huge sundaes, compliments of James.  
"Geez, James, that was really nice. You sure about that?" Lily asked, before starting on her sundae. It was a banana split with hot fudge, nuts, and sprinkles. "You know, most guys aren't as nice as you." Lily said, wondering if there was any reason that he was so nice.  
"I'll take it as a compliment. Of course it's fine! Trust me, my parents force manners on me, I better use 'em. Now dig in!" James said and they all followed that command easily. During their break, the group found out about each other. The others were curious of James' old school, Salem, and James wanted to find out about Hogwarts. This is great. I have just moved here two months ago, made a friend that turned out to be a witch, and she introduced me to five other witches and wizards who I could be very good friends with. James thought with content. After finding out about the school houses, James really hoped to be put in Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw also sounded good. He also didn't want to be placed, in Slytherin, the house that turned out more Dark witches and wizards than the others. It turned out that all of the others were also in Gryffindor.  
"What about Quidditch, do any of you play Quidditch at Hogwarts?" James asked with interest. He loved Quidditch, a wizard sport played on broomsticks and with seven players. James' position was one of the three Chasers. The Chasers toss the Quaffle, which is a soccer-sized red ball, around to each other, trying to make it in one of the three fifty-foot hoops.  
"Well, Sirius is a Beater, Bridget is the Seeker, Remus and Emily are co-commentators, and me and Jen are some of the Gryffindor's cheerleaders. What about you?" Lily said, thinking that he loved Quidditch, judging by the sparkle in his eyes.  
"Well, I play Chaser. I was the captain at Salem last year, well, actually I was the assistant captain." said James, hoping that they had an open spot for him. "You could probably make it, if you're good, all of the houses have a Chaser opening. Now, how about we finish our shopping?" said Lily, checking her watch. They soon continued their shopping, and Jen was entertaining them with a story of how Lucius Malfoy tried to kiss her. Lily saw Sirius turn an angry shade of red, his hand pulling into a fist. Lily turned her head and started laughing quietly.  
"If you want me to, Jenny, I swear that I'll beat that git up! He'll wish that he never tried that!" Sirius declared with a passion. The other girls heard this and all but Jen started laughing. Sirius, noticing that he said this out loud, blushed, as did Jen. When Emily noticed that Jen looked uncomfortable, she said, "Guys, stop. It's not funny. In fact, I think that Sirius and Jen make a cute couple. Right, guys?" She shot a pleading look at Bridget and Lily. Bridget quickly stopped laughing and said that she agreed, but Lily couldn't stop. Sirius suddenly spoke up.  
"Hey, Lily. You and James would make a cute couple, too. Come on, I know you like him!" Sirius said in a teasing voice. That immediately shut Lily up.  
"That is so not true, Sirius. Me and James are only friends!" screamed Lily. James was also mad at Sirius. "That's not fair, just 'cause you like Jen it doesn't mean that you had to make up lies about us!" said James angrily.  
"Alright, alright. I'll stop. I was just kidding anyways. Come on, let's keep going." said Sirius, trying to avoid a fight. Soon they stopped in front of an animal shop.  
"Ohh, can we go in, my parents are letting me get a pet." Lily asked, hoping to go in and look at the animals.  
"Sure, Lil. I need some more food for Arrow anyway." James replied, and seeing the other's confused looks added, "My snowy owl."  
They went in and looked at the pets. Lily finally chose a magical black Lab. It was magical because it lived longer than regular dogs and always looked like a puppy, but had the strength and wisdom of a grown up dog.  
"Hey Lil, what are you gonna call him?" Bridget asked, brushing her short brown hair out of her eyes. Lily looked very thoughtful. "Well, let's see. Hey, how 'bout James, cause it has blue eyes and black fur?" Lily asked in a semi-serious voice.  
"You're gonna name your dog after James? Now I really think that you like him!" Sirius exclaimed gleefully. "Anyways, won't that get kinda confusing?"  
"I was just kidding. I don't know what I wanna name him yet. Any suggestions, guys... and gals?" Lily asked, looking at the others.  
"Wellll.... How about Blacky? Or Black? Wait, that would also get confusing, cause its Sirius's last name. So never mind!" said Emily.  
"Hmm... A male black lab.... Well you could name it Snuffles or something original, like Padfoot." Jen said thoughtfully. The puppy suddenly started wiggling and when Remus reached to pet him, the canine bit him.  
"OW! That hurt! Man, that demon has sharp teeth!" Remus exclaimed, examining his finger. It was bleeding slightly, but Bridget pulled out a magical bandage that heals it after ten minutes.  
"Wow, Remus! You are a genius!"  
"I am?" Remus asked dumbly. "I mean, of course I am. What am I a genius for again, Lil?" Remus added, putting on the MagicAid.  
"You found the perfect name for him! I saw a movie called Snow Dogs, and the lead dog was a male that had bright blue eyes, like this one! And it was really vicious, too!" Lily said, her eyes sparkling with happiness. She looked down at her new dog. "Hey, Demon, you're a sweet puppy, aren't you?" she asked in a cooing voice. The others also thought that it was a good name. For the rest of the day, they continued to play with Demon in the Leaky Cauldron. Soon, Mrs. McQueen came to pick up the girls, and Mrs. Lupin came for Sirius and Remus.  
"Hey, James. Do you want to come with us? It's fine with my mom." Jen said, looking at him. She thought that if he didn't like her, then they could at least be friends.  
"Well... I'd love to, but my brother Matt said that he was gonna pick me up." James said hesitantly. He really wanted to go with his friends, but didn't want to worry his brother.  
"James, if you want to come, you can call your brother on his phone. I had to help him set it to another ringer. Somehow, whenever it rang, the phone screamed 'James is the coolest!' in a shrill voice. So, how about it? You can use my mom's. She let's me borrow it when I go shopping for my school stuff." Lily said, reaching for the cell phone.  
"Alright, but only if it's okay with you, Mrs. McQueen." James said politely.  
"Of course it's alright, I just need to know where you live. But why don't you call your brother first, hon." Mrs. McQueen said kindly. This boy is so polite; most boys today are a holy terror. Mrs. McQueen thought. James then took the phone from Lily and dialed his brother's phone number. He was familiar with Muggle stuff from his previous Muggle Studies classes. "Hello?" Matt had pick up his cell. "Hey, Matt. You know how you were gonna pick me up today? Well, anyways, don't bother. Lily's friend offered me a ride. Okay?" James asked. "Oh, Okay. Thanks. Now I can explore the city. Bye." replied Matt and he hung up the phone. James also hung up and he handed the phone back to Lily who put it in her purse.  
"Mrs. McQueen? My brother said that it's alright." James said, helping Jen with her bags.  
"Oh, that's wonderful! But I need to know where you live. You can just give me directions, dear." Mrs. McQueen replied kindly.  
"Oh, I live across the street from Lily. Just drop me off with her. I need to ask Lily something anyways." James said, helping the other girls into the car, which had been magically stretched to resemble a park bench. The gesture made Jen's mom smile immediately. They all got in the car and Jen's mom started the vehicle.  
"Everyone in?" Mrs. McQueen called over the sound of the magical radio. The radio was more like a CD player, but it played any song in the world. All you had to do is say the name of the song and it immediately played it.  
"Yup!" chorused the five teenagers together, and promptly started giggling. Mrs. McQueen looked in the mirror at the four best friends. They had been friends since 1st year. Her eyes then wandered over to James. He seemed very polite, but defiantly not a prep. He was also very nice, because Jen seemed to like him very much, and she had sort of a sixth sense; she knew who was truly nice and people who would just use her.  
"Well, then let's get this show on the road! Who wants to be dropped off first?" Mrs. McQueen asked the group of teens. The four girls all loved Mrs. McQueen because she always listened to them and tried to help them.  
"Mrs. McQueen, I have to go to a special dinner with my parents and their friends. I need to get ready, so could you drop me off first?" Emily asked, leaning forward. Everyone knew that it took Emily forever to get ready, so Jen's mom immediately agreed.  
After dropping Emily off, Jen shouted the name of her favorite song. " Say My Name!" Even though Jen was a pureblood, spending time with Lily gave her a pretty good grasp of the Muggle world. Recently, Jen started taking an interest in Muggle music. Immediately the song started blaring out of the speakers.  
Jen and Lily soon joined in. "Say my name, say my name. When no one is around you, say baby I love you, say my name, say my name!" Bree also started singing, and soon the three were pretending to be Destiny's Child and put a rather amusing show on for James. By the time they reached the last verse, James couldn't keep his laughter in anymore. He just burst into laughter. By the time he recovered, the song was over and he got to pick the next one.  
"Hmmm. Let's see. how about 'Slim Shady'?" James asked, and it immediately started playing. For this song, they went along, but didn't make up crazy things like they did with Say My Name.  
After about three songs, Mrs. McQueen neared Lily and James' street. James took this opportunity to ask Lily what he wanted to ask her. "Lils, I need to talk to you. Is that OK?" James asked, hoping that she would agree.  
  
"Of course, James. That's what friends are for." Lily said softly, but Jen heard and snickered softly.  
"Oh, stuff it Jen. I know you have a thing for Sirius Black." James said right before getting out of the car. This immediately shut her up.  
"Hey James, you can come over to my house and we can talk. I also need some help with something." Lily said, brushing past James and getting out of the car.  
"Alright, just let me tell my mom that I'm home. OK?" James asked, but he was already on his way over to his house. 


	3. PARY PLANNING

CHAPTER 3  
PARTY PLANNING  
  
James went over to his house, dropped off his shopping and hollered to his mom that he was going over to Lily's. When he got to her house, and rang the doorbell, Petunia answered.  
"Hello? Oh hi James, where is your brother?" she asked in a gushing voice. James could now see why Matt was scared of her and Lily despised her.  
"Oh, last time I talked to him, he told me that he want exploring the city." James said with ease.  
"Meaning what?" Petunia persisted annoyingly.  
"Meaning that he's looking for girls in his cool car." James said calmly. "Now, could you tell me were Lily is?" he added, walking into the hallway.  
At his words, Petunia's mouth dropped open and her shock gave James the chance he needed to get away from her. When he got to the kitchen, he saw Mrs. Evans, sipping some tea, and looking through the mail. He decided that she must know where Lily was.  
"Umm, Mrs. Evans. Do you know where Lily is? I just got back when she told me that she wanted to talk to me." James said. He was a little nervous because he didn't want her parents to think that they were going out or something.  
Mrs. Evans just smiled warmly. "She's in the back, by the pool. Lily told me that she was waiting for you. Now run along."  
Thank you, Mrs. Evans. Bye!" James said, heading out of the back door that led to the backyard. There, he saw Lily, lounging in a chair by the pool, in deep thought. As James neared her, she wrote something down on her pad of paper. "Hi, Lil. Whatcha wanna talk about?" James asked, leaning over the back of her chair.  
"Oh, hi James. I usually have a party before heading off to Hogwarts. Do you want to help me plan it?" Lily asked turning around him to smile, showing her sparkling teeth.  
"Sure, why not? But you need to make the guest list, cause I barely know any one. 'K?" James asked, tearing off a sheet of paper and grabbing a pencil.  
"It's a deal! Now, how about you come up with a theme, and some decorations. Then when I'm done, I'll help you get a list of foods." Lily agreed, taking charge. She motioned to an empty chair and James took it.  
For a few minutes the two sat in silence, occasionally writing something down. Just then, Lily remembered something. "Hey James, what did you wanna tell me? Is it something important?" Lily asked, a little concerned. She wondered what James wanted to tell her.  
"Well, it's not really important. I was just wondering how we get to school. At Salem, we arrived in buses. They were magical." James said, feeling a little stupid.  
"Oh, well we get to Hogwarts by a train that leaves from Platform 9 ¾. To get on, all you do is run straight at the wall. It will let you pass through. OK?" Lily asked, relieved that it wasn't something more serious. They continued working, talking occasionally. After about five minutes, Lily had finished the list. There were about 50 people invited from the three Hogwarts houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.  
"Hey, James I'm done with the guest list. Did you figure out a theme and decorations, yet?" Lily asked. She couldn't wait to see what James had thought of.  
"Yup." James said, nodding. "I got a really good idea, but we'll need some magic for decorations. Are any Muggles coming?" James asked, hoping that she would like his idea. He had worked hard and had practically all of the decorations figured out.  
"The only Muggles are my parents and family. But they obviously already know about my powers. So, what's your idea?" Lily asked, hoping that they wouldn't have too many magical items, because her parents wouldn't exactly be thrilled.  
"I was just thinking, since it's in the summer, we could have a luau! With magic, we could transform your pool into a Hawaiian ocean, and the trees into palm trees. Everyone would wear swimsuits or Hawaiian-style clothes." James explained in an excited voice.  
"Oh my god! James, that's like the best idea ever! This party is going to be the bomb! I love you!" Lily exclaimed happily. Then she realized what she had said and a pink tinge appeared on her cheeks. "Oh, sorry James. I didn't mean it that way. You know, in that friends sort of way." Lily apologized, but James waved the apology away.  
"You now what's really weird, though? That all of our friends want to get us together! Now, that's annoying!" James said and Lily agreed. They talked for a little while, and then Lily and James started planning the menu.  
"We could serve drinks out of coconuts. And have all kinds of tropical fruits! The drinks could have those cute little umbrellas in them." Lily exclaimed. They had soon made up the guest, decoration, and food lists.  
"Finally! I can't believe that we're done! If you want, I magically photocopy these for you." said James, stretching. They had been working for about forty-five minutes on the lists and they were finally done.  
"Oh, thanks! Listen; do you want to go to a Muggle movie? Most of my friends are purebloods so they keep getting confused at Muggle things." Lily said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.  
"Sure! Let me go get some Muggle money, okay? I'll meet you at the corner," James said, walking toward his house. "Hey, mum! I'm going to the movies! I'll be back in three hours at the most!" James called to his mother.  
At that moment Michelle walked in. "Make sure that you leave room for dinner, okay? And don't embarrass Lily. That's who you're going with, right?" She asked, getting out some Muggle money.  
"Yes, and was I ever too full for your cooking, Mum?" James said rolling his eyes as she handed him the money.  
"Bye, dear. I love you!" Michelle said, hugging her son.  
"Love you too!"  
Meanwhile, Lily was changing into an emerald sleeveless shirt and a khaki skirt.  
"Mom, I'm going to the movies with James! I'll be back in three hours, tops!" Lily exclaimed, putting some Muggle money in her purse.  
"Alright, just don't spoil your dinner. We're going to the Potters." Abby said, walking into the room. She paused. "You look beautiful, sweetheart."  
"Thanks, mom. I love you!" Lily replied, brushing her hair in a half ponytail.  
"I love you too, and be careful!" Abby said, heading for the kitchen.  
In five minutes, Lily met James in his front yard. He was dribbling a basketball, looking bored. He looked up when she approached.  
"Finally! You were taking forever. I thought that you forgot about me!" he exclaimed, putting on a puppy face at his last words. Lily started laughing at his expression. "No, I didn't forget about you. So, are you ready for that movie?" She asked, easily stealing the ball away and tossing it into the garage. "Do you have any in mind?"  
"Nope! Give me the list of them and the summaries. I'll figure it out." James said, reaching for the summaries in her purse.  
"Nu-uh, Potter, only I go in there. Got that?" To this, James replied "Yes, ma'am!" along with a salute. This caused Lily to chase him around his front yard until she finally caught him and begun tickling him.  
"Okay...Stop... I surrender! Let's go to the movies." James screamed, between laughs. Lily then pulled out the summaries and handed them to James. "....Hmm, Lord of the Rings, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Black Hawk Down, and Frilly Kitties. Not 'Frilly Kitties.' Lord of the Rings sound okay?" James said, studying the paper.  
"Fine, but I also want to see How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Deal?" Lily extended her arm, and James took it, pulling her down. "Hey, don't do that! It'll ruin my shirt! Stop it Potter!" she yelled, and got off his lawn. "Now, LET'S GO!!" she screamed so suddenly that James immediately jumped to his feet and followed her.  
"So, do you have any Muggle friends?" James asked as they were walking across the street.  
"Uh. Well I did, but we sort of lost touch after I started Hogwarts. But Em, Jen, and Bree are my best friends. We're closer than I was with my Muggle friends." Lily said, stepping on the sidewalk. "How about you?"  
"Not really. Sometimes I would play soccer with some Muggle neighbors, but I never really had any Muggle friends."  
"I wonder what they would do if they found out that I was a witch and went to Hogwarts?" Lily wondered out loud.  
"Probably either not believe you and think that you were some kind of mental patient or call you a freak and completely abandon you." James answered thoughtfully.  
"I guess that you're right." Lily said a little sadly.  
"Well, ya still got me!" James said playfully, swinging his arm around her. She sighed, "I guess your right." Then Lily laid her head on his shoulder. They kept walking in silence. In about five minutes, Lily and James got to the movies. There, Lily bought some tickets while James went for the food.  
"You sure love to eat. Don't you?" Lily asked, watching James get a huge tray filled with popcorn, pop, and candy.  
"Hey, I'm a growing boy!" James exclaimed with mild indignation.  
"Yeah, right. How do you not gain weight?" she asked in amazement as he also went and got a large amount of nachos with extra cheese. He turned around, and looked her straight in the eye. "I usually don't eat junk food. Plus I exercise every day. I either play Quidditch or play soccer. Now stop criticizing me about what I eat."  
"Okay, okay. Don't get so cranky! Now come ON! Lord of the Rings is starting in five minutes. I want to get a good seat!" She dragged him over to the theater and went to find two seats for them. As soon as she had sat down, a voice called, "Lily! It's great to see you! Come over here!"  
" I can't. I brought my friend with me. You can join us though!" Just then, a girl with very light blonde hair and icy blue eyes came towards them, smiling and showing all of her sparkling white teeth. "Hi, Gwen. What's up?" Lily said happily, but James noticed that it was a forced happy. He immediately realized that this must have been one of Lily's old Muggle friends. He definitely liked Jen, Bridget, and Emily much better.  
Oh, my, god, Lily! It's like so good to see you! I like haven't seen you in, like, 3 years! How are you?" she asked in a preppy voice.  
"I'm, uh, okay. I guess. What about you?" Lily asked, then remembering that it was the wrong thing to ask Gwen.  
"Oh, I'm super! Like two weeks ago, there was this guy that I was going out with. He was like a major loser! I dumped him after about 5 days! Hey, who's that hottie, over there? Now, HE is hot!" Gwen gushed, staring at James. Lily looked at James and laughed. " Hey James. Girls must really like you. First Jen, Em, and Bree and now Gwen. I don't know what they like about you so much!" James looked insulted. "What are you talking about? Of course chicks dig me. You're the only one who doesn't see my great body!" Then he lifted up his shirt to prove his point.  
"Eww! James, stop that; it's gross! And Gwen stop staring at him!" Lily exclaimed, pulling James' shirt down. When her hand brushed his chest, she felt a tiny spark. "Whoa! James, did you feel that? It wasn't really a static shock, but a different sort of shock!" Lily exclaimed in awe, staring at James.  
"Yeah, I did. I wonder what it was? Let's go ask my dad after the movies." James responded, looking equally astonished. His eyes were wide and he had let his shirt go. Gwen interrupted, " Well, speaking of movies, this one's about to start so we should sit down. Can I sit with you guys? My girlfriend totally abandoned me! Please?" she asked making puppy-dog eyes. Lily knew the only reason that Gwen wanted to sit with them was to get closer to James. Lily knew that she wouldn't let James go out with Gwen because Gwen always cheats and is a major player.  
Soon, the movie previews began. First there was a preview for 'Homeward Bound 2', next for 'Rex', and finally for a movie called What a Girl Wants. Finally, Lord of the Rings began. In the beginning, Lily noticed that Gwen kept cuddling up to James. Soon, she ignored her because James didn't seem to like Gwen very much.  
In the cave troll scene, Lily grabbed James' hand and he put his arm around her shoulder. Gwen saw this and became jealous.  
"Are you two like going out or something? Cause I saw you two on the way here and you guys were like leaning on each other. So, are you a couple?" To this, Lily and James responded simultaneously, "No, were just friends. But everyone thinks that we make a cute couple."  
"I don't think so. You two don't seem right for each other. Lily, I see you with someone with light blonde hair blue-gray eyes, tall, and thin. Now James. I think that a blonde with icy-blue eyes, medium height, and incredibly thin is exactly your type!" she exclaimed.  
In about half an hour, the movie ended. They got out and Gwen followed them. She looked like a puppy following them. Some people started laughing when she almost started drooling all over James.  
"Uh, Gwen? I need to talk to James for a minute. I'll be right back okay?" she asked and grabbed James' hand. She dragged him to a bench under a cherry tree. "James, do you know what that shock meant? I know that you're a pureblood, so I thought that you might know." "I have no idea! Do you want to go ask my dad? We can give our tickets to Gwen. I'm sure that she'll find somebody that will go with her." James asked and Lily nodded. They silently walked over to Gwen. They simply said that they had to go home and that they're giving their tickets to her. Then they left.  
"So, are you okay?" James asked. Lily looked a little sad. She wasn't as lively and playful as before.  
"Yeah, I was just thinking about the little spark thing. I wonder what it is. I am kinda scared. I mean it's almost definitely something magical. I just wonder what it means." Lily answered thoughtfully, twirling a lock of her hair.  
"Don't worry, we'll ask my dad. Meanwhile, do you want to go flying a little? I got the newest Nimbus broom. It's called the Lightning Bolt. "  
"No, I'm scared of heights! Especially on a broom. I almost fell off once. No way!!" Lily said stubbornly. James couldn't help but laugh at her expression.  
"Don't worry. Just change into shorts and come out here. I promise that I'll be careful." Lily slowly walked back to her house and did as James told her to. When she got back, James was already racing around on his broom. She waved to him and he dived down. "Come on. Here get on and I'll go behind you. Don't worry." Slowly, he rose into the air. Lily grabbed at James and he just put his arms around her waist and comforted her. They hovered for a few minutes and went back down. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?" James asked as they got off the broom. "Want to go again?"  
"Only if you go in front. I don't want to be there anymore." So they switched. When they rose, Lily grabbed James again and he stroked her arm.  
In fifteen minutes, dinner was ready. They went in, washed their hands and sat down to eat dinner. At dinner, Petunia was trying to talk to Matt, but he just talked to Mrs. Evans. Anthony and Michelle were having a lively conversation about their childhood experiences.  
"Dad, me and Lily need to talk to you." James said in a low voice and Lily looked over to him. Anthony saw that his son was serious so he said, "Alright you two. Come in my study." Then he got up. Lily and James followed silently and stayed close together. "Okay, so what's up? Any special reason to see me for?" he asked, a puzzled expression on his face.  
"Well, we were at the movies." James began and Lily cut in.  
"Before the movie began, James was acting silly so he pulled his shirt up. When I went to pull it down, my hand brushed his stomach and we both felt a shock."  
"It wasn't a static shock, but a shock nonetheless. We don't know what it meant, but we think that it was something to do with magic. Do you have any idea, Dad?" James explained. Mr. Potter looked surprised and went to his bookshelf. He opened a thick book and looked at it. "Well, I'm not sure, but I think that it means that something great is going to effect you. We'll figure this out though. Now, let's go back to dinner, okay?" Lily and James agreed and went back down. In about half an hour, the two families were sitting in the living room. Matt was reading a book about dragons; Lily and James were playing a game of wizard's chess and talking occasionally, and Petunia was listening to the adults talking. Soon, she got bored and excused herself to go home. Mr. Evans let her so she went home, probably to talk to her boyfriend, Vernon Dursley. After a while, James invited Lily to spend the night at his house. At first their parents were reluctant, but soon they convinced them, saying that they were nothing more than very good friends. When Lily went home to get P.J.s, a bathrobe, slippers, and some toiletries, Petunia asked, "Where are you going?" To this, Lily answered simply, "I'm spending the night at James' house. We're going to finish planning our party. See you tomorrow." Then she exited, leaving Petunia open-mouthed.  
When she got back to the Potter's, Mrs. Potter opened the door. "Hi Lily. James is in his room, cleaning for a change. I guess that he wants to show you a clean room."  
"Hi, Mrs. Potter. I don't like cleaning my room either. Where is James' room?" Lily asked, going into the hall.  
"It's upstairs, third to the right. See you, dear." With that, Lily went up the stairs, two at a time and went into James' room. There, she saw him putting some clothes away.  
"Hey James. Do you want to do the decorations for the invitation?" Lily asked when he looked up. When she came in, his face broke into a grin. "Sure. I'll go and get the paper, so can you get my supplies?" He added, "They're in the middle drawer, on the right." Lily went and got the markers, pencils, glitter, glue, and some magical art supplies. They sat down on the bed and worked on the invitations. Lily wrote the necessary information and passed it on to James. He added some funny comments on the inside and decorated the front with palm trees, coconuts, sand, and an ocean. Occasionally, he asked her about the people on the invitation. Lily picked up the first finished invitation. "Wow, James! These are good! You're great at drawing!" she said in an astonished voice. James blushed.  
"I'm not that good. But I can do a little Japanese animation."  
"You do? Oh, let me see!" Lily begged, practically getting on her knees. James laughed.  
In about a half-hour, the invitations were finished and waiting to be delivered. After they had finished, Mrs. Potter called, " Lily, James! We're going to sleep. Change now. See you in the morning!" Then Lily grabbed her bag and said, "Hey, James. Which bathroom should I use?"  
"There's one down the hall. Meanwhile, I'll use mine." He went into his bathroom and soon Lily heard the shower turn on and she went into the restroom down the hall. She showered for ten minutes and blow-dried her hair until it was mostly dry. Then she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and put on some cream. When Lily got into James' bedroom, he was just emerging with wet hair and a pair of shorts on. "Hey Lils. Nice P.J.s." Lily was wearing her ducky pajamas.  
She laughed and said, " At least I don't sleep in Quidditch boxers!" then she went to bed. Five minutes later, James looked at Lily, made puppy- dog eyes and said, "Lily, I lost my teddy bear. Will you sleep with me?"  
She laughed and said, "If you scoot over!" then she got in beside him. They talked for a few minutes and then she said, "This teddy bear is not comfy. Give me your pillow." When he gave her the pillow, she put it in a place so both of their heads were on the pillow. Soon, they fell asleep. *~*~ Thanx for all the reviews!! I finally updated! Well, I'll try to updated regularly. Please review!! Daisy 


	4. LUAU

CHAPTER FOUR  
LUAU  
The next Saturday was the day of her party. At nine o'clock, Matt came over to Lily's with James. He pulled out his wand once he was safely in the Evans's yard. The first thing he did is swish his wand and mutter "Preventum Spyious!" Then he said, "Hi Lily. I just cast that spell so no Muggles besides your family can come in the yard. It'll last till your party is over."  
"Hey, Matt. Hi James. Thanks for helping me with the party. My pool is over there. Can you transfigure it, Matt? Then James and I can put up decorations like balloons." Matt headed for the pool and Lily and James started pumping up the balloons.  
"So, about how many people are invited? Are they from all four houses?" asked James, blowing up a balloon. He tied it to a string and attached it to a paperweight.  
"Actually, it's only from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. I don't really like anyone in Slytherin. About 30 people are invited, but some will bring friends or relatives, so I planned for about 60 people. Now you'll defiantly get to know lots of kids. The party's going from about 3:00 to 10:00. Then, my four best friends will spend the night. My parents will drive them to King's Cross." Lily said, completing another group of balloons.  
At 10 o'clock, Matt had finished transfiguring the back yard. Then he went to the gate and charmed it so whoever passes through will be changed into a bathing suit or Hawaiian outfit. In another hour, the decorations were finished. After all of the magical items were finished, Matt went out with some blonde. Then Lily went in the kitchen to find a huge crate of butterbeer and other drinks from the Three Broomsticks. She unloaded the crate and set the drinks in an icebox. Meanwhile, James was arranging snacks on different plates. Lily brought them out and stuck the icebox in a spare fridge. Then both of them went to the living room with a drink in his or hand. They lounged on the couch, watching T.V. until it was 2:45. Then, Lily's mom came into the room.  
"Lily, James. It's almost three o'clock. Do you need to do anything for the party?" Abby asked. Lily and James then sprang into action. Lily check the gate to make sure that it was working and James went to check out the pool and the sand. They set the drinks out and waited for the first guests to arrive.  
At two-fifty, the first guests began to arrive. When the doorbell rang, Lily rushed to answer it, leaving James in the back. When she opened the door, her four best friends stood on the threshold. Jen was wearing a light blue summer dress, her hair pulled up in a clip. Bridget was wearing a halter top and short, jean shorts. Her hair was pulled in a half ponytail. Emily was sporting a sporty look, wearing Adidas shorts and a matching top. Her other best friend, Samantha "Sammie" Lynch was also there. She has long, curly strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes. She was dressed in a checkered skort and a tight T-shirt.  
"Hey Jen, Bree, and Em. You guys remember James, right? And Sammie, this is James. He just moved down the street. James, Sammie. She's one of my best friends." Lily said, introducing them.  
"Hey Lily. We decided to come early. You know, to do some last-minute things." Sammie said, eyeing James. "Hi James." It took James a few seconds to regain his composure. "H-hi, Sammie. What's up?"  
"Nothing much. You're that guy that just moved down the street from Lils, right? Nice to meet you." Sammie said. Then she turned to Lily. "What do you want us to do?"  
"Now that you mention it, I need a facial and pedicure!" Lily said, grinning mischievously. Jen laughed and said, "Very funny, Lil. Now, really, what do you need to finish?" They walked into the living room.  
"Nothing, not really. Just go out side and enter the backyard through the gate. I have a surprise for you guys!" Lily replied, getting all excited.  
"Okayyy. Come on guys. Lily wants us to go through the gate. She has a surprise." Bridget said in a voice that sounded like she was talking to a bunch on kindergarteners.  
"Stop! We planned a really cool party." Lily whined, and then added, "Now, go through the gate. It's really cool!" So, Lily's friends entered through the gate. When Jen went through the gate, her outfit was exchanged for a light blue two-piece bathing suit. "Wow! Lily! James! This is so cool. How did you guys do it?" Jen asked, looking out at the Hawaiian scene that filled her eyes.  
"A lot of planning and a little magical help from my dear bro." James explained, walking through the gate. His outfit immediately changed into a pair of shorts and a blue Hawaiian shirt. The rest of them also walked through and their attire also changed.  
Soon, the rest of the guests began appearing. For the first half- hour, Lily, Jen, Emily and Sammie walked around, serving drinks and flirting with the cute guys. When all the guests arrived, she opened the pool. Immediately, Sirius, Remus, James and Bridget jumped into the pool and started splashing each other. Half of the party also joined them. Soon, their splashing turned into an all-out water-splashing war; boys against girls. When the sun was about to set, most of the people got out of the water. Around then, Lily brought out tropical drinks with little umbrellas in them. Everyone was having great fun, dancing or watching the sunset. "You know what, James? I think that this was the best party I ever hosted. Thanks for helping so much." Lily said, watching the sun setting beyond the trees. About half the people had left, so it was more peaceful.  
"Your welcome. Anyways, I had fun; I met many people. What house is Tyler Crane in? He seems pretty nice." James answered, leaning over the railing.  
"He's in Ravenclaw. Tyler's pretty nice. He's also smart. I think that he's one of Ravenclaw's Beaters. Well, the party has left. I guess we better clean up." Lily sighed, getting off the railing.  
"Hey, Lil. If you want, I could go get some of our house elves to clean up." James said, also getting up.  
"You have a house elf? Cool! Or as Petunia says 'Far out!' I would love that. Thank you!" Lily exclaimed. James went over to his house and came back with about 3 house-elves.  
"Lily, this is Missy. She's the head elf. Missy, this is Lily. You will help us clean up. Listen to Lily for now." James said. The house-elves went to work. In roughly 20 minutes, the backyard was spotless. The pool had been changed back, the palm trees into regular ones, and grass replaced the sand. When the elves were done, James left. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" James muttered as he passed her.  
"Bye James." Lily called to his retreating form. She went in her room and turned on the computer. "Hey you guys; while to computer is loading, what do you want to do?" Lily asked.  
"Anything but talk about boys." Jen groaned. "I went to my cousin's birthday party in America and she had a sleepover. Well, anyways, her name is Amber and she and all of her friends were constantly talking about boys. '.Oh, he's soooooo cute! Did you see his hair' It was sick." Jen explained, sighing with disgust.  
"Ooh Lily! Can I do your hair? It's sooo nice!" Emily asked, knee- walking over to Lily. She grabbed Lily's brush and her box of hair accessories.  
"Sure, why not?" Lily asked and quickly brushed out her hair. "Oh, Sammie. Could you connect to AOL please?" She asked. Sammie went over to the computer and connected. "I kinda miss the internet when we're at Hogwarts." Sammie sighed. She was Muggle-born, like Lily. In fact, they had gone to the same elementary school.  
"No problem. Matt is teaching me this spell that will replace Muggle electricity with magic, so it will work at Hogwarts. I can't wait to try it." Lily said. Emily had braided her hair in 2 French braids. She walked over to her computer and checked her E-mail.  
"No E-mail. So, now what do you want to do?" Lily asked, turning on her Instant Messenger. "Hey look, Elizabeth is on!" She exclaimed. Elizabeth was one of her few Muggle friends that had kept touch with her after she left for Hogwarts. Lily opened an I.M. window.  
LILWITCHYGRL24: Hey, Liz, wuts up? How r u?  
CAREBEARLIZ2985: Hey, Lily! I'm great! Nmh. How 'bout you?  
LILWITCHYGRL24: I'm fine. Hey, now I can bring my laptop w/ me 2 my boarding school. Now we'll be able to talk all the time!  
CAREBEARLIZ2985: Cool! Well, listen, I gotta go. School already started for me & I need 2 study 4 a comp. quiz. Bye!  
LILWITCHYGRL24: Ciao!  
Elizabeth then signed off. Lily and her friends played on DollzMania for a while. They all made characters from books and themselves. Soon, it was time to go to bed.  
"I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts." Jen said after they had all changed into pajamas.  
"Me too. It's so much better than that elementary school we went to." Sammie agreed, braiding her hair into pigtails.  
"I hope Dumbledore will let me bring Demon to Hogwarts." Lily said, getting out more pillows.  
"Of course he will. If Karen can keep that annoying parrot, you can keep Demon." Emily said, referring to their archenemy, Karen Cupchack from Hufflepuff. She was in their year, and she tried to do anything and everything to annoy the group of friends. Especially her and Lily had been rivals ever since Lily had helped Sirius pull a prank on Karen. 


	5. THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

At 6:30 in the morning, Mrs. Evans came to wake them up. "Lily, Jen. Get up. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes." Then she went over to Emily, Bridget, and Sammie. In fifteen minutes, the five of them were in the kitchen, looking extremely sleepy-eyed. "Go and get dressed. Breakfast will be served by then." So the four friends went and got dressed. They pulled on Muggle clothes, as they would change on the Hogwarts Express later. Lily finished second to Bridget. She was wearing jean capris, a light pink tank top, white tennis shoes, and white socks. She quickly applied white eye shadow, a few strokes of mascara and pink-tinted lip-gloss. Soon, they were all in the kitchen, chatting and defiantly more awake than before.  
At nine thirty all of them, with the exception of Petunia piled into the Evans's mini-van and headed over to King's Cross Station. There, Lily said good-bye to her parents and promised to write often. Then they crossed the barrier. In front of them stood the Hogwarts Express, gleaming scarlet and puffing out black smoke. Students were saying good-bye to their parents or looking for their friends. Owls were hooting, cats meowing and Demon was scratching at the door of her crate, whining. Sammie spotted James, Sirius, and Remus and headed over to them. The rest followed her.  
"Hey, guys. What's up? Do you want to sit with us?" Sammie said, coming up to the boys.  
"Sure. Why not." Sirius agreed, after getting nods from the other two. They climbed on the train and began looking for an empty compartment. Finally, they found one near the rear of the train. They sat down and talked about everything from school to summer to Quiddich. Soon the food cart lady came by.  
"Anything off the cart, dears?" the old lady asked kindly. Immediately, the three boys were swarming around the food cart. They took half the stack of candy and about three jugs of pumpkin juice. Then Lily went up to the cart and took some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes and a variety of sweets that the four girls would share.  
The rest of the ride went smoothly, except when Karen came into their compartment and started flirting with all the boys. They all got extremely annoyed and kicked her out. When it started getting dark, the train slowed down.  
"Great! We're here!" Remus exclaimed, grabbing some candy and stuffing it in his pockets.  
"I'm starving!" Sirius added, jumping up.  
Lily and her friends laughed at the boys' excited expressions. As soon as the train stopped, they got up and started moving toward the exit.  
Lily said, "James, you better go with the first years to be sorted." James left.  
"Gee, Lils, what did you say to make him leave?" Sirius asked with mock suspicion, his eyes narrowed.  
"Who, me? I didn't say anything." Lily said innocently. "Fine, I told him that he should go with the first years to get sorted." She added. The girls got in one carriage while the boys went in another. Soon, they were at Hogwarts. When they got into the Great Hall, Sirius, Remus, Jen, Emily, Bridget, and Lily headed for the Gryffindor table while Sammie went to the Ravenclaw table. The five Gryffindors sat down in the middle of the table and waited for the sorting to begin.  
"I wonder who our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher is. Professor Leocapri left for Africa." Emily mused, looking at the Head Table. The rest of the group also glanced up, but they didn't see any new faces.  
Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts. Now, let the Sorting begin." He said, raising his arms. Just then, Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, came in followed by a large group of first years.  
"Now when I call your name, please step up. I will place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted in your house. Anspach, Jamie." A small girl with blonde pigtails came up, trembling. She put the hat on.  
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted. In fifteen minutes, they were at the M's. After Zuric, Christopher became a Hufflepuff, Dumbledore stood up.  
"We have one more student to be sorted. James Potter moved here from America. He will be sorted. Mr. Potter, please step up to the stool." Dumbledore said, motioning to the stool on which the hat was sitting. James went and placed the hat on his head.  
"Hmm, yes. A Potter. I know just what to do with you. GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted to the hall. The Gryffindor table burst into cheers and applause. James jogged to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Remus.  
"Hey, congrats buddy." Sirius said.  
"Now that everyone has been sorted, I have a couple of announcements to make. First, the Forbidden Forest it off limits to all students. Second, no student shall approach the Whomping Willow unless they wish to be killed by it. Third, There will be a restriction put on the students allowed to visits Hogsmeade. From now on, only students third year and up will be allowed access to Hogsmeade. And finally, dig in!" Dumbledore said and at his final words, the dishes filled with all kinds of delicious foods from roast chicken to mashed potatoes to creamed corn.  
The whole school followed that order very easily. After an hour of stuffing themselves, the dishes cleared. "Now off to bed. Prefects, lead your house to your Towers." Dumbledore said. The seven Gryffindors got up and headed for the stairs. While going through Hogwarts, they gave James a tour.  
". And here is Gryffindor Tower." Sirius concluded.  
"Huh? All I see is a picture." James said, confused. He stared at the portrait of a fat lady in a frilly pink dress.  
"She guards the entrance. You need a password to get in. It changes about once a week." Lily explained.  
"Balderdash" Sirius said. "A prefect downstairs told me." He explained. The portrait opened to reveal a circular room with squashy red chairs and sofas and a merrily crackling fire.  
"The boys' dormitory is upstairs and on the left." Lily said, going up in her dormitory. When she got in, she looked around. Six four-poster beds were arranged around the room, all with their own posters and pictures. Lily headed for hers, which was near the window. She quickly unpacked and added a couple more pictures to her collection. Then she headed back to the Common Room.  
"Hey Lil." Jen said from her position near the fire. She was watching Sirius and James play a game of chess. Remus had already gone upstairs and Emily and Bridget were talking to some friends. "When's our first practice? Did you know that Karen joined the Hufflepuff cheerleading squad?" Jen asked after Lily got seated next to her.  
"I was thinking on Saturday. We also need two more cheerleaders, since Jillian and Alyssa graduated last year." Lily said. She was the head cheerleader mostly because she came up with the idea. The other houses soon followed and now all of the houses have cheerleaders.  
Jen and Lily watched for another fifteen minutes until they got bored and headed upstairs. When they got upstairs, Jen and Lily saw that Samira Mesquite was already in the dormitory.  
"Hey, did you two see that new Gryffindor from America? He's a hunk." Samira exclaimed. She was flipping through her magazine.  
Lily just rolled her eyes and Jen shrugged. " He's her new neighbor and she can't see that he's hot." Jen explained.  
Lily looked up from her book. " Yeah, he's a hunk alright. A hunk o' cheese." She replied sarcastically from her position on her bed. Jen giggled a little but Samira looked at her disdainfully.  
"You are so immature." She said, sighing.  
"Fine, what ever! I'm going back down there." Lily exclaimed, throwing her hands up and running down the stairs. Samira followed her. When Lily found James, she went up behind him and leaned over his shoulders. "James." She said. "Do you think that it is immature that I don't think that you are a hunk, hot, adorable, cute, and a hottie?" she asked sweetly.  
James' eyes widened. "No, but I sure wouldn't mind if you did." He said in a teasing voice.  
"You're awful. That's just wrong. Now I can imagine Sirius saying that, but coming from you, it is gross!" she exclaimed, slapping him upside the head.  
"Hey, watch it! That hurt!" James exclaimed, rubbing his head.  
"Yeah, sure. Like I believe you." Lily said, going upstairs. Samira, however, looked concerned.  
"Aw, poor Jamsie. Are you -" she started, but was interrupted by James.  
"Never, ever call me Jamsie. It's James." He said firmly. "And I'm fine" He added. He got up and walked up to the boys' dormitories.  
The next morning, James was woken up by a very hyper Sirius jumping on his bed. "What are you doing?" he asked groggily. "It's six in the morning!" he groaned.  
"Come on! If you get up now, you can see anyone in the house. They're all sleeping." Sirius said, hopping on the bed.  
"I'm going to assume that you want to take me to the third year girls' dormitories?" James asked, getting out of bed and pulling a shirt on.  
"Oh, yeah. Come on!" Sirius replied, his face cracking into an evil grin.  
"Man, you are obsessed with Jen." James said, opening the door and heading to the girls' dorms.  
"No, no. This way. Come on. We have to go through this secret passage because the stairs don't let you in." Sirius whispered frantically, motioning James to come towards a statue of Godric Gryffindor. "Rickusletus" Sirius whispered and the platform on which Gryffindor was standing on moved to the side. James and Sirius crawled in quietly. The passage inaudibly closed behind them.  
"Lumos" James whispered. His wand-light gave off enough illumination for the two to see where they were going. "How much farther?" James questioned after a couple minutes of crawling.  
"We'll be there in a little bit." Sirius whispered from the front. They soon opened a trapdoor and quietly slipped into the girls' dorm. Sirius was right; they all were asleep.  
The two of them were walking around when James thought of something.  
"Silensio!" he whispered. Now him and Sirius could talk, but the girls wouldn't hear them.  
"What are you doing?" Sirius exclaimed.  
"Listen; they are all asleep. What is a better time to pull a prank than now?" James explained.  
Sirius's eyes lit up. " We could super glue their curtains together, mix up their clothes and of course, cover them in shaving cream!" Sirius exclaimed, grabbing some lotion. James easily transfigured it into a large bottle of shaving cream. First he went over to Lily. He shook the bottle and plastered her in shaving cream. While James was doing this, Sirius messed up the girls' toiletries and switched their clothes. As soon as James finished covering Lily in shaving cream, he quietly closed the curtains and super glued them shut. They worked quickly; in 10 minutes they were done. The two boys quietly slipped out of the girls' dorms. They burst into their own room, laughing.  
"What the hell are you two doing this early in the morning?" Mike Vittardi asked grumpily from his bed. He pulled his curtain shut and turned around.  
Their other dorm mate sat up in bed. "What did I miss?" Ross Northrope asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked a lot like James, but he had warm, chocolate brown eyes and his black hair wasn't naturally messy like James'.  
"Nothing, we just totally trashed the girls' room." Sirius said. He went into the bathroom. Meanwhile, the others were either getting their clothes out or going to find another bathroom. As soon as Sirius got out, James went into the bathroom. In fifteen minutes, he had showered and had changed. James went downstairs to already find Sirius in the Common Room along with the four girls.  
"Hey, what's up?" James asked. They greeted him but went back to talking in hushed tones.  
"What are you guys talking about?" James asked, going up to them.  
They turned to him, evil glints in their eyes. "Oh, a simple thing. Something along the lines of revenge!" Emily answered evilly. The look on her face had an amazing effect on her. Even though she was short, the look made her resemble a saber-tooth tiger. James silently gulped. He didn't know what the girls were planning, but he knew that he better be careful.  
"Something unusual happened today." Lily said, smiling sweetly.  
"Oh, it did, didn't it?" James answered innocently.  
"Yes, apparently, someone glued our curtains shut, covered us in shaving cream, and messed up out stuff." Jen added with a deathly quiet whisper.  
"Okay! Well, let's go down and have some breakfast. I'm starving." Sirius said loudly, trying to break the tension. On the way toward the Great Hall, the girls returned to normal. James, however, didn't notice the change because he was too busy trying to find marks that he could remember to go to the Great Hall. This was incredibly difficult because the pictures and stairs kept moving. Finally, they got to the Great Hall. The seven friends went towards the Gryffindor table. Sirius, James, Jen, Emily, and Bridget sat down in the middle of the table. Lily, however, went farther. She walked up to a guy and hugged him.  
"Hey Ross." She murmured, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.  
"Hey Lils. What's up?" He asked. He was relatively tall compared to her; she only came up to his shoulders.  
"Nothing much. Oh, yeah. I want you to meet someone." Lily said, taking his hand and leading him to her friends. "Ross, this is my good friend James. He just moved near me. James, this is Ross. He's my boyfriend." She introduced them. James got up and shook his hand.  
"Nice to meet you. You're in my new dorm, aren't you?" James asked politely. He really was being sincere, not just pretending.  
"You too. Listen, are you gonna try out for Quidditch? We have two positions open. One for Chaser, the other for Keeper." Ross said, sitting down next to Lily and across from James.  
"Yeah. I'm a Chaser. Do you play Quidditch?" James asked, buttering some toast and getting another bowl of porridge. "I play Beater. If you want to, try-outs are next Saturday at 5:30 P.M." Ross said. 


	6. FIRST DAY BACK

FIRST DAY BACK  
  
After they all finished eating, the third-year Gryffindors went to their first class, Charms. "Welcome back, class. Oh, yes. I see our new student is in this class. Mr. Potter, my name is Professor Flickwit." the tiny teacher said from his pile of books. "Now class, today we are going to learn a new charm. It's the Summoning Charm. Usually, it is taught in fourth year, but this class is especially advanced. Mr. Potter, if you are in need of assistance, just ask Miss. Evans over here." Professor Flickwit said, magically distributing various items around the class. "Now class, the charm is 'Accio'. Repeat after me. Accio" Flickwit said.  
"Accio" the class mimicked. The lesson went by pretty smoothly. The only people who could actually summon the objects were Sirius and Lily. Most of the class's items lost heart halfway. Summer Starsty from Hufflepuff couldn't even lift her eraser up. Soon, Charms was over for the day. Then Gryffindors went off to Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall taught Transfiguration. She was also Head of Gryffindor House, and Deputy Headmistress.  
"Good morning class. Ah, I see that Mr. Potter is here. Welcome to Hogwarts, James. Your Transfigurations teacher at Salem told me that you are rather gifted in this art." Professor McGonagall said. She was a rather stern-looking witch, but if you behaved, she was pleasant.  
"I do pretty good, I guess." James said modestly. He was aware of all the eyes on him and he felt rather embarrassed.  
"Would you kindly perform some form of Transfiguration to show me where you stand." McGonagall said.  
James got up. He took a deep, steadying breath and pulled out his wand. "Fereverto" he said. The parakeet in front of him smoothly changed into a blue and yellow water goblet.  
"Very good, Mr. Potter. This is pretty advanced; I only teach it to 5th years." The Transfigurations class at Salem must be incredibly advanced." McGonagall said as the class "Uuh" ed and "Ahh" ed.  
"Well, actually, I had some extra help during free time, since all of the stuff we did last year in Transfiguration was so easy. Professor McQueen helped me with some 5th year Transfigurations." James explained.  
"Well then. I would like you to help me today. Would you kindly assist any person who is having trouble today?" McGonagall asked. She was rather impressed with James; he was a great student and modest too. James agreed. For the rest of the time, he walked around, helping the people who needed it. Lily was one of these people. When she tried to transfigure her mouse into a pair of mittens, they stayed fuzzy and had wiggling tails.  
Soon, it was time for lunch. The four boys ran straight for the Great Hall, claiming that they were starving. The girls meanwhile went up to their dormitories and waited for Bridget to come up with their food. Bridget soon arrived with a wagon full of doughnuts, macaroni & cheese, pizza, burgers, fries, and lots of other good food. The four girls laughed and talked about everything and anything.  
"So, Lily. What do you think of James?" Emily asked, grinning.  
"Well. I think he's a great friend. He's nice, sweet, funny, and smart. But I don't know why you guys love him so much." Lily said, taking a helping of macaroni & cheese.  
"Just that he's adorable, sweet, nice, smart, and not a total jerk." Jen said. She sat back against some pillows and sighed.  
"Most guys are jerks." Bridget added, getting more water.  
"Ross isn't. He's really sweet." Lily said quickly. Then she blushed.  
"Of course you would say that." Jen said and the others agreed.  
"So, what did he say that was so sweet?" Emily asked. She was a hopeless romantic. It was actually her that set Lily and Ross up.  
"Okay, well on the first day of summer break, I was in my room, listening to Nelly. Well, I hear Petunia yelling that someone's on the phone for me. So I pick it up. Ross was the one who called He said 'So, how's your summer?' Isn't that totally adorable?" Lily gushed. She saw the others smile; they all loved Ross. He was sweet, charming, cute, smart, and one hell of a Beater.  
"That is sweet." Jen agreed, smiling.  
Soon, lunch was over. The four girls got their bags out and filled them for their afternoon classes.  
"So, what class do you have next?" Emily asked the others.  
Well, me and Jen have Care of Magical Creatures with you." Lily said. She took her books and walked down to the Entrance Hall. Care of Magical Creatures was held outside, near the Forbidden Forest. Standing near a small hut was a middle-aged woman who Lily guessed was their Care of Magical Creatures teacher.  
"Welcome class, to Care of Magical Creatures. Now, my name is Professor Sage. All of you are here because you want to learn how to care for the magical creatures in this world." Professor Sage paused and looked at her class. It was a mix of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Unfortunately, that meant that Karen was in this class. Lily guessed that the only reason that she chose this class was because Sirius, Remus, Ross, and other cute guys were taking it. Another reason was that she wanted to annoy the three girls during class.  
"Umm, Professor? I was just wondering if we are going to get dirty, because I don't have time to take a shower in between classes." Karen said, raising her hand. This caused James, Sirius, and Ross to laugh silently. Remus and the three girls had to stuff their hands in their mouths to keep from laughing.  
"Well, not too dirty. But maybe a little from handling the animals. You should of thought about it before signing up." Professor Sage said, hiding a smile. "Now, for our first lesson, we will learn about magical creatures that are considered mythical in the Muggle world. Many Muggle fairytales have this creature in them. Can anyone guess what animal this is?" Professor Sage said, leading the class to a paddock. A few people raised their hands. Jen was one of the first ones. "Jenny?" she said.  
"I think that you are talking about the unicorn." Jen said. "And I prefer to be called Jen." She added.  
"Well, Jen. You are right. Unicorns are probably the most well known creatures, but little is known about them. The reason is that since they are so shy, most people don't see them and we don't get to study them. Here we are" Professor Sage said. Tied up to a tree was a beautiful, snowy white unicorn.  
"Oooh! It's soooooooo pretty!" breathed all the girls.  
"Yes. This is a male unicorn. Males have a large pointed horn like this. It has magical properties. Some of the potions made in your class use powdered unicorn horn. The tail also is magical. It is the core of some of your wands." Professor Sage said.  
"Doesn't that hurt the unicorn, to get part of his horn?" Jenny asked, not wanting the beautiful creature to be hurt.  
"Well, if Muggles tried to do it, the unicorn would probably be hurt, if not killed. By using some simple spells, we can take off some of the horn without hurting the unicorn." Professor Sage explained. "You can all take a sugar cube and feed it to him." She added.  
"But if we take off some of the horn, doesn't that help the unicorn?" Lily asked, petting the animal. "Because, I know that other animals, like deer and moose, have to rub against trees to take off some of it's antlers."  
"Very good, Lily. Yes, it is a fact that removing some, only some of the horn does help the unicorn. Sometimes, wizards even walk around in the woods in the fall and look for shavings of unicorn horn." That is all for today's lesson. For homework, kindly find out about the magical properties of unicorns and write an essay. It should be one roll of parchment long. It is due on Monday. Class dismissed." Professor Sage said, releasing the class.  
Next, they had Double Potions. All of them were groaning when they looked at their schedules.  
"What's wrong with Potions?" James asked. Lily had noticed that whispers of "He's so cute" and "Look at his hair; it makes him look soooo hot!" James, however, was blissfully unaware of the whispers following him.  
"Oh, god. Don't even get me started! The teacher is Professor Walgner. He's horrible! Walgner is Head of Slytherin. We have Potions with them. He also favors the Slytherin House and he hates all Gryffindors. Fun, huh?" Bridget said, groaning. They had almost reached the dungeons where Potions was held. When they got there, the Gryffindors found a bunch of Slytherins leaning against the cold stone and laughing softly. Lily groaned; Severus Snape had seen her and was making his way over to her.  
"What's wrong?" James asked Lily as he saw her groan.  
"Snape. That greasy-haired kid is obsessed with me! He won't leave me alone." Lily sighed, trying to hide behind James, but Snape had already spotted her.  
"Well, Lillian how was your summer? I tried to owl you, but you never wrote back. Oh, yes. I found out that there is a Hogsmeade weekend in two weeks. Would you give me the pleasure of taking you? On a date?" Snape said, sickly, ignoring the others as if they were part of the wall.  
"Oh, Severus! I'm soooo sorry. I had already promised someone else that I would go with them." Lily said sweetly, but her tone had a hint of coolness.  
"Like who? Come on my sweet angel." Snape whispered, putting his hand to her cheek.  
Lily snapped. She grabbed his hand and twisted it down, making Snape groan with pain. "Oh, I don't know. My boyfriend. Whom I see is coming right now." Lily said, dropping Snape's hand as if it were a poisonous spider.  
Snape stalked away as the rest of the Gryffindors came into view. The dungeon door opened and a sour-looking wizard with short brown hair that was carefully trimmed came out.  
"Come on! Hurry up! Anyone who is out of their seats when the bell rings will be getting a detention." The wizard barked and all the Gryffindors hurried in to the dungeon and found seats. Lily sat with the girls at two tables while James sat with his friends at another two.  
Potions was mostly the same as the other classes, but less cheerful. Professor Walgner was the first teacher that day to fail to recognize a new student in his class. He did, however, smirk in James' direction. One difference between this and the other classes was the several nasty remarks about Gryffindor from the Slytherins and several from Walgner. James decided from that day on that he didn't like Walgner one bit.  
Lily and her friends hurried up to Gryffindor Tower to drop off their books. Then they ran back down and joined the rest of the school for dinner. For Lily, dinner went by fast. The boys were talking about their first days back.  
Lily looked up from her conversation about summer break when she heard James say, ".And Walgner looked at me like he hated me. I didn't even do anything in class. Yet." He added evilly. Lily turned towards him.  
"See, we told you that Walgner hates Gryffindors more than any other house. But he did seem to hate you most of all. I wonder why?" Lily mused. "Oh well. Bye you guys. I have to do some homework." She said and departed quickly for the common room.  
"She wasn't serious, was she?" James asked, looking at Lily's friends. "It's Friday for the love of Quidditch!"  
"I don't know for sure. Sometimes she can be kind of weird." Sirius said. James' last comments changed the boys' subject to Quidditch.  
"Bye you guys; we'll see you in the common room." Jen said, standing up with Emily and Bridget.  
When James, Sirius and Remus arrived in the common room, they saw all the girls doing various things. Bridget and Emily were making a castle out of magical cards. Jen was experimenting with her hair, turning it different colors. Presently it was a deep red like Lily's but with her own blonde streaks running through it. Lily, James noted, was by the fire, writing out the essay, and checking facts in her Care of Magical Creatures book once in a while.  
"Lily, why are you doing homework; it's Friday night!" James exclaimed, taking Lily's book from her hand.  
"James, give me back my book!" Lily said, grabbing for her book. James just held it above his head and out of her reach.  
"Just tell me why you are doing homework on a Friday night." James repeated.  
"Fine." Lily responded, sitting back down. "I'm doing homework because I have nothing better to do. I also have cheerleading tryouts on Saturday and practice on Sunday. Anyways, if I finish it now, I'll have the weekend free." Lily said. "Now give me my book back." And James reluctantly handed it back to her. Then James wandered around the common room, trying to find something to do. Eventually, he headed up to his dorm to get out the homework that was assigned that day. 


	7. TRUTH OR DARE

TRUTH OR DARE  
  
James had finally looked up from his essay half and hour later to find all his friends lounging around, looking bored. Lily, who had long finished her essay, was sitting in from of the fire, carefully examining her fingernails. Jen's hair was back to original and she was staring blankly into space. Bridget and Emily had long abandoned their game of chess and were now standing on their heads, counting backwards from 1000. They had already reached 551.  
"So, I guess we're all bored." James said, but no one answered. "Hey! I know! We can play some game!" he said enthusiastically.  
"Chair Share!"  
"Spin the Bottle!"  
"Truth or Dare!"  
"Telephone!" were all the instant replies her heard.  
"How about we vote?" James asked, tearing a roll of parchment into several pieces.  
"I'll go get Sirius and Remus." Jen said, getting up. She got to their dorm, but found it locked. "Hey you two! Come on down! We're gonna play a game!" Jen shouted loudly. Sirius opened the door.  
"Hey Jenny, I think there were some Slytherins that didn't hear you." Sirius joked as he opened the door. When he saw Jen, he flashed her a grin. "We'll be down in a minute." he promised.  
James meanwhile had written all their suggestions out carefully and thrown them in a top hat he had Transfigured. He mixed up the slips of paper and offered the hat to Bridget. She pulled one out and read it.  
"We're playing. Truth-or-Dare!" she exclaimed just as Jen came down the stairs, followed by Sirius and Remus.  
"Hey Jen. How come you let Sirius call you Jenny, but none of us?" Lily asked, sitting down between James and Emily.  
"Uh. So, let's start!" Jen said enthusiastically. At that time, Samira had come down the stairs from the girls' dormitory.  
"Oh, are you playing Truth-or-Dare? Can I play?" she asked, and she sat down in between James and Sirius.  
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you, Ross is coming too. He just needed to finish something." Sirius said and at that moment, they all heard a pair of feet at the bottom of the stairs, announcing Ross's arrival.  
"Well, let's get this game started!" Ross said, plopping down by Jen. He looked around and noticed Samira in the circle. "What is she doing here?" he asked, staring at her blankly.  
"She heard that we were gonna play a game and she just. invited herself, I guess." Lily said. "So, who wants to go first?" No one volunteered. "Okay, well. I'll go first then." she said.  
Lily looked around, trying to find her victim. She laid eyes upon her and her eyes narrowed to slits. "Perfect!" she muttered under her breath.  
"Samira. Truth or dare?" she asked suddenly and the mentioned looked up.  
"Dare." she said, smirking at Lily and crossing her arms.  
Lily thought hard. "Okay! I know the perfect dare for you! You have to. go out with. Malfoy for a month. And not the 'Hi, Bye, Honey' business. I'm talking about the 'Hugging, kissing in the hallway' going out." Lily said, smirking at her victim.  
Samira looked disgusted. "Fine. I'll do it 'cause I'm not a chicken. My turn. Ah, James. Truth or dare?" she asked.  
"Dare." he said, looking up and smirking in her direction.  
"Fine. You have to. kiss your bet gal friend. Here. Now." she said. "I hope it's me!" she muttered under her breath.  
"Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Thruthium Darium Completo! Now everyone will know if you did your dare and lies can't be uttered in this game." Lily said  
James got up. "Lily, you're probably my best friend at Hogwarts. I don't think of you in this way, but oh, well, a dare's a dare." he said and pulled a surprised Lily into a sweet kiss.  
The kiss ended quickly as neither of them made any movements to prolong it. Ross looked at Lily with raised eyebrows. She shrugged and sat down next to him, giving him a kiss.  
It was now James' turn. "Okay Sirius. Truth or Dare?" James asked.  
"Truth."  
"Okay, who do you have a crush on?" James asked, grinning.  
Sirius blushed, "Uh, so we can't lie can we?" he asked Lily, who shook her head. "Well, I like Jenny, cause she's cute and smart."  
The game continued like this, each of them blushing when they admitted an embarrassing secret, and gagging when they had to do strange dares. By the time it was 10:30, all had at least five dares to do tomorrow and had all admitted more than ten embarrassing secrets. It was then when a 6th year Prefect came down from the dormitories and insisted that they go up to bed. 


	8. SWEET REVENGE

CHAPTER EIGHT  
SWEET REVENGE  
  
After going to bed, the four girls crowded in Lily's bed and put a sound- proof spell on the bed so no one would here them. Here they discussed their summers and talked about how all of the boys have changed. Remember when Sirius and James pulled that prank on us?" Lily said and Emily's eyes grew big. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lily asked Emily.  
She nodded. "Oh yeah. Sweet revenge." she cackled, rubbing her hands together in a creepy way.  
"Okay, that was just weird. Where did you get that from?" Bridget asked.  
"I was watching that Muggle box thing with the pictures. It had a 'witch'. But it looked like a green hag with a wart on its nose. Emily answered.  
"Well, what can we do? We need something original. Something no one ever did." Jenny mused, twirling her hair around her finger.  
"What about taking all their clothes? I know they both only sleep in boxers." Emily said.  
"Good thinking! But when should we do it? Tonight?" Bridget mused, twirling her hair.  
"No, not tonight. They'll be expecting it. How about next weekend? They won't anticipate revenge in a week. Plus, we'll be able to sleep in." Jenny said.  
Lily yawned widely. "Well, I'm beat. I gotta get some sleep." she said. The others climbed off Lily's bed and got into their own.  
"Well, 'night." Emily said.  
All of the others responded with a sleepy " Good night". All except for Lily. She was already fast asleep, dreaming of far-away places.  
The next morning, Professor Dumbledore had a surprising announcement for the students.  
"Good morning students! This Wednesday, you will have all day off from classes." Dumbledore paused there, loud cheering erupting from all four tables. As the yelling subsided, Dumbledore continued. "The reason being is to show our gratitude to all of Hogwarts' house elves, they will have a day off every other month. That day, the students will help clean up and of course serve the food. To Houses will be randomly picked to cook and the other two to clean. It will be different each time. Please continue with your breakfast." Dumbledore said, sitting back down, and taking some scrambled eggs from the platter.  
"That's new. Imagine us Gryffindors working with Slytherins! That'll be fun and horrible!" Sirius said, and the whole hall continued to whisper about it.  
"Hey, guess what I saw on the notice board!" Jen said, taking a piece of toast from Remus's plate.  
"Hey, that's my toast! I'm still hungry, you know." Remus exclaimed, grabbing his toast back and stuffing it in his mouth. "Fats ine. Geh for own!" he exclaimed, through his full mouth. They looked at him and at the same time, all of them burst into laughter. The noise was so loud that all the other houses fell silent and looked in their direction. Dumbledore rose again.  
"What may I ask, is so amusing, young Gryffindors?" he asked, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.  
"N-nothing, Professor." Emily replied between giggles.  
"If that is so, please let us finish breakfast."  
The days went by fast, and before they knew it, it was Wednesday. The day before they had found out that Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would work together to get the food ready. Slytherin and Hufflepuff meanwhile would tidy up the castle.  
As Lily awoke, she noticed that the usual stacks of clean clothes were missing. Instead, there were piles of dirty clothes tossed all over the room. Lily grinned as she thought of the Slytherins having to clean up their dorm room. She tossed on an old pair of jeans along with a T-shirt with frayed sleeves. As she skipped down the stairs, she noticed a crowd around the bulletin board. When she got close enough to read it, a fourth year pushed her out of the way.  
"Hey!! You can't just push me around, OK?" Lily screamed, putting her hands on her hips and standing up to her 5'2" height. The fourth year just laughed, as she was much bigger than Lily. She didn't notice, however, a mass of red hair coming her way.  
Lily had thrown herself at the girl and knocked her over. She sat on her and started punching and scratching the girl until Sirius and James pulled her off and held her until the other girl disappeared, crying.  
"Lilian Marie Evans! I can't believe that you were fighting!" James said in a shocked tone.  
"Don't use my full name. Not everybody has to know. Do you think I was wrong?" Lily said, still fired up from the fight.  
James surprised her by saying, "Nah. She deserved to have her ass kicked. Good job. I just can't believe that you would do that! You're good." James said admiringly.  
Lily reluctantly smiled. " Thanks. My dad made me take defense lessons. He said that I'd need it someday. Guess he was right." She said, flashing a brilliant smile. "Now, come on. I want to see you guys cook!"  
The others followed them to the Great Hall. As they entered, Dumbledore stood up. "Is everybody here? Good, good. Well, as you all know what you will be doing today, please separate into two groups. Slytherins and Hufflepuffs on the right by Professor Walgner. He will assign groups for different parts of the castle. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, over by Professor McGonagall, if you please. She will lead to the kitchens." He said and the school started to move towards opposite ends of the Hall. Lily and her friends walked towards the Ravenclaws, looking for Sammie. They finally found her in the middle of her other friends, telling an amusing story. As they got nearer, the group burst out into laughter.  
"Hey, Sammie. What's so funny?" Bridget asked, hugging her friend. The other girls all gave Sammie hugs and Sirius, being the flirt, kissed her hand.  
"Oh, well. I was just telling Alyssa, Meagan, and Katie about your party and how we started that splashing war." Sammie said, nodding toward Alyssa Harter, Meagan Shelby, and Katie Darling.  
"Why, hello ladies," said the ever charming Sirius Black. Remus meanwhile flashed them a smile. The girls just giggled.  
"I remember that! James, Sirius, Remus, and Bridget started it." Jen said. They all walked with McGonagall towards the kitchen.  
"Watch her carefully. Look how she gets into the kitchen. We could try that, since there's no password. Those houselves will do anything for us." Sirius muttered to Remus and James. They watched as Professor McGonagall tickled the pear on the painting of a large fruit bowl. The pear giggled and turned into a large green handle. She opened it and ushered the students inside.  
"Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, please follow me. I have asked Krittr, the head house elf to show you around." Professor McGonagall said introducing a house elf with an apron made of a dishtowel tied around her waist. The apron was stamped with "Hogwarts House Elf - Head" in purple. Krittr stood on a platform.  
"Welcome young Misses and Misters! We is very glad for day off! Now, all pans and pots and everythings is over there, and food is in that way! If kind students need help, please use button and magical robot elf will assist finding things for yous! Thank you!" the elf said, getting off her platform and exiting the kitchens.  
"Well, get to work! If you want to eat a decent breakfast, I suggest that you don't fool around." Their Transfiguration teacher said before sweeping out of the room.  
"You heard her. We better start cooking. Let's go and make the pancakes." Lily said and they got out gallons of milk, pounds of flour, sugar, and all the other ingredients. They soon found out that each group had to make a lot of food. Lily, Emily, and Sirius were by the stove, flipping pancakes, and putting them on platters. Jen, James, Remus, Bridget, and Sammie were busy making more batter, and pouring syrup into containers. As each platter of pancakes and tray of syrup filled up, Ross put them at regular intervals on the four tables that would send up the food to the students at seven thirty.  
"How many more?" Lily asked, flipping some pancakes. "It feels like I've flipped a million pancakes already!" she complained.  
"Well, if Sirius and Ross would stop eating them, maybe we'd finish faster." Jen said, throwing a dirty look at the mentioned. They just grinned thorough their full mouths.  
"Hey, we need to make more batter. We ran out." Remus said.  
"I'll get some ingredients." Bridget said, getting out more flour, milk, and other things. "Pour some flour in here," she said, indicating to a large mixing bowl. As Remus poured, flour puffed out, getting on them all.  
"Okay, that's it!! War!" Emily screamed. Soon they were all throwing flour, eggs, and milk at each other. It wasn't until a Prefect came and held them back that they stopped.  
"Now, as you have made this mess, you will clean it up. With NO magic. Got it?" she said sternly. When they started to complain, she said, "Shut up. You're lucky that I didn't report you. You would have had detentions and points taken off." This silenced the group and they began cleaning until Sirius asked the girls "So, any special reason you started the food fight?"  
"Oh that. Revenge." Bridget said simply. When the others gave her confused looks, she mouthed, I'll tell you later.  
They continued cleaning up while another group finished off the pancakes.  
At 7:30, the whole school went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The Slytherins were very wary of their food, as Gryffindors had cooked it. The food, surprisingly to the Slytherins, was delicious. After breakfast, Lily went down to the Gryffindor Common Room to announce that they would be holding cheerleading tryouts that had been postponed because of rain. 


	9. TRYOUTS PART ONE

CHAPTER NINE  
  
TRY-OUTS PART ONE  
  
As Lily made her announcement, a small group of girls crowded around Lily. As a joke, Sirius also came, holding a pair of pom-poms.  
"You are trying out? Don't you play Quidditch?" Samira, half excited, half disgusted.  
"Sure, why not? I can try out, even if I am a boy. No, a man." Sirius responded. "Anyways, I could probably cheer better than you." He said, and Samira flounced away, looking hurt.  
Lily went out to the Quidditch field, the others following her. They started off by warming up and practicing some cheers. Then the try-outs began.  
"Okay! As you all know, there are 2 spots to fill. Each of you will separately perform a cheer, then a dance. The rest of the squad and I will judge you. Results will be posted this weekend." Lily announced, her voice magically magnified. Jen stepped up.  
"Anspach, Tabitha" a 2nd year girl went up to the outlined area and picked up her pom-poms. In a wobbly voice, she began her cheer. The squad watched as everybody auditioned: 1st years, 7th years, popular girls, bookworms, mean girls, and friendly ones. The funniest one was when Sirius got his turn.  
"Black, Sirius!" Jen called amidst all the giggles. Sirius went up and began his cheer. It was so funny; him falling after every jump he attempted, and he ended the cheer by burping " LIONS!"  
By the time he was finished, the girls were laughing so hard that they fell to the ground. The rest of the try-outs went smoothly; Sirius had broken the ice and the girls trying out weren't so nervous.  
When the try-outs were over, Lily headed back to the kitchens for lunch. The rest of the day passed easily and without any problems.  
"God! I'm beat. I never realized that the house-elves' work was so difficult. And we have to do it every month! I'm going to bed." Emily moaned, pulling the curtains around her bed.  
"It wasn't t-that bad," Lily began, failing to stifle a yawn. "We only had to cook this time. We gotta clean next time." She said.  
"Whatever." Emily said and waited to hear a 'shut-up' from Lily. When she heard none, she looked over and found Lily fast asleep.  
Meanwhile, the boys couldn't fall asleep after eating so much ice cream at dinner. They were on a sugar high and kicked out of the boys' dorms.  
" So, what should we do now?" Sirius said, bouncing up and down in his seat.  
"Sirius, shut up, I'm trying to think." Remus complained.  
"Oh, right okay." Sirius sunk back down into his seat. "Right. Not going to talk. Going to sit here and be very quiet. Not a word. Not a single word. Going to zippy the lippy. No speaky. Silent as a graveyard. Quiet as a mouse. When a problem comes along, you must zip it. Zip it good. I've got whole bag of "sssh" with your name on it. Remy don't. Remy." Sirius said and again he received a loud "Shut up!"  
"Hey, why don't we explore the castle a bit? Go up to the seventh floor. We don't really have any classes there. Want to find out what's up there?" James asked.  
Sirius looked excited, then dejected. "We tried, but the caretaker's assistant, Filch caught us.  
"Well if that's all, your problem is solved. Hold on a minute." He said, sneaking back up the stairs. In exactly two minutes, and 37 seconds, according to Sirius, James came back. He was holding a flowy, silver object- thing in his hands.  
"What is that?" Remus came over and asked curiously.  
"This is the answer to our problems. It is an Invisibility Cloak." James said proudly. Remus looked excited, and Sirius still looked lost and confused.  
"What?"  
"Invisibility Cloak. Do you want me to spell it out for you? I-N-V-I- S-I-B-I-L- hey I never noticed how many "I's " there are in that word. Anyways, it'll make you invisible so no one can catch us." James explained.  
" OHH." Sirius said, comprehension dawning on his face.  
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" James said, pulling the Invisibility Cloak over his two friends. They stepped out of the Gryffindor Common and headed up to the 7th floor. While exploring a corridor, they heard a call.  
"James! Remus! Get over here! I've found something." Sirius called excitedly. The other two ran over to where Sirius was standing. He was standing in front of a potted plant.  
"What? I don't see anything." Remus said, trying to push open the wall behind the plant.  
"No, but if you do this." Sirius said and showed them a, well let's just say interesting, combination of steps. First he took 2 big steps, 4skips, 5 jumps back and a twirl in front of the plant. Slowly, the plant rotated and a door appeared on the once-blank wall. "You will."  
"Great, but why were you doing that?" James asked, suppressing his laughter.  
"Don't ask. I just remembered. On the third floor, by the statue of the old hag with a hump, I was holding my wand and I was trying to remember the password for the Gryffindor Tower. I was muttering and when I said 'Opium' it opened. All I saw was a small hallway before someone came and I had to close it. Why don't we go check it out?" Remus said.  
"Great idea. First, let me put my own password for this. That was we won't have to dance next time we want to find out what's down there." James said, grinning. After they had finished sealing it off with another password, they headed down to the 3rd floor. Once there, they made sure that no one was in the hallway before taking off the cloak. They all hurried to the statue.  
"OW!! Remus my foot!" Sirius yelled. Suddenly, they heard steps coming nearer.  
"Quick! Come over here. There." James said, pulling the cloak over his friends.  
"Whew. That was close!" Remus said, pretending to wipe sweat off his forehead. Suddenly, Argus Filch, the assistant caretaker appeared from around the corner. He shined the light in all corners, but didn't see the group of boys.  
"Those maurdering fools. I wish I could have found out who it was so I could throw 'em out of the castle." Filch muttered, rounding the corner. The three boys sighed after he passed them.  
"That was close. But I think that we should have sort of like a group name. I like the sound of the Lions. You know, to support Gryffindor." Remus said, thoughtfully.  
"Yeah, but we sort of need a creative name. Something no one has ever used." Sirius said.  
"Well, the only way is to make up a word. What about Marauders? That's a pretty unused word, so not many people will know the meaning." James suggested. The others agreed with the name.  
"Well, now that we have decided on a name, I'm going to sleep. I'm beat!" Remus exclaimed, getting into bed. The others soon followed, as it was already past one in the morning. 


	10. LOVERS' QUARREL

CHAPTER TEN

LOVERS' QUARRLE

The next morning, Lily was woken up very suddenly — and early — by a hyper Sirius. " Lilikins! Get up! Wake up and smell the bacon! Or is it the toast? Never mind. Just WAKE UP!" he screamed.

            "What do you want? It's too early to be up it's only — AH! It's eight! We're gonna be late. Sirius, why didn't you wake me up?" Lily screeched.

            "Lily! Will you shut up? It's too early in the morning!" Emily yelled from her bed.

            "Emily! Bridget! Jen! It's eight! Classes start in half an hour!" Lily wailed, grabbing her clothes and comb.

            "What are you talking about? I'm always the first one up and I don't wake up till 7." Bridget said through the opening of her curtains.

            "What?" Lily said, looking at Sirius. When she saw him struggling to hold back a grin, Lily ran at him, whacking him with her bag. "What did you do? Tell me!" Lily screamed, waking up all the girls.

            "OK! I — ouch — just turned your — ouch — clocks forward. Stop hitting me. There, now you know. OW! What was that for?" Sirius asked, rubbing the back of his head where Jen had just smacked him.

            "That was for turning our clocks forward. Now get out. As we're already up, we'll get dressed. Out!" Jen commanded, pushing Sirius out the door. 

            Soon all of the girls were dressed with the exception of Samira, who slept with earplugs.

            _"Why do you always sleep with them? You won't be able to hear your alarm clock." They had asked her once in 2nd year._

            "Because I need my beauty sleep and I can't get it with you four always jabbering away until one in the morning. Anyway, they have a special spell so I get woken up at the right time." She had told them.

            The girls quickly got dressed and went downstairs to find the Common Room completely deserted. 

            "Ok, so Sirius decided to deprive of us of our beauty sleep. And then he went back to sleep. Do you see something wrong with that, girls?" Jen asked, looking at the others.

            "Defiantly. But how do we know which ones to blame?" Emily said. Jen looked around at her three friends. A smile soon spread across her face.

            "Well, let's see. Emily can take Remus. Lily, you'll have your boyfriend. Bridget, you can take James. As for me… I've got Sirius. Ready girls?" Jen asked.

            "Yes!"

            "Of course!"

            "Girl Power!"

            With that, the four girls crept up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. They slowly tiptoed up to their victims and pulled away their curtains.

            " Ready? Get set. Go." Lily mouthed. At 'Go' all four of the girls pounced on their prey and screamed as loud as they could.   

            "WAKE UP! ROSS! GET UP AND SMELL THE PERFUME. COME ON SNUGGLES! UP! UP! UP!" Lily crowed. Ross jumped up, but as Lily was right above his head, he hit her.

            "Ow!!" Lily yelled                                                                        

            "Ouch. Damn that hurt!"

            "WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!"

            "WATCH WHERE YOU PUT YOUR HEAD!"

            "YOU SCREAMED AND SCARED ME!"

            "WELL YOU… YOU WOKE US UP AN DEPRIVED US OF SLEEP!" 

            "What are you talking about? _I _didn't do anything. I was just sleeping. It was all Sirius." Ross said, calming down and rubbing his head.

            "Oops. Sorry." Sirius said sheepishly. 

            "Come on Remus. We need to plan some revenge. And I don't want to get in the middle of this lovers' quarrel." James said, dragging Remus out. Sirius also went with them with another muttered 'sorry'.

            "So it wasn't you?" Lily asked, sitting on the bed.

            "Nope. Now. Say sorry. But you'll pay." Ross said, grinning. He touched his head. "Make it all better." He commanded. Lily obediently kissed his forehead and then settled onto Ross's shoulder. She sighed. 

            "What's up?" 

            "Nothing. I'm just tired. Too much work yesterday. What _is _it with guys and not wearing shirts to sleep?" Lily complained.

            "What, you want me to start now? How 'bout we switch?  I wear a shirt and you ditch yours?" Ross said, grinning.

            "How about not? But we better get up." Lily said, stretching. 

            "Fine, fine." 

            They got up and walked out of the dorm.

            ~*~

            Well, what did you think? I know, I know. Too short. But from now on, I think that I'll be updating much more often. Please tell me what you think. Thanky Poo! ~Daisy~

 **Tiger Lily21** — Thank you for your review. My next chapters will probably be short. Sorry. I'll try to write longer ones. 

**Firewalker32** — Thank you. Either him or Dumbledore. It will set them apart from most witches or wizards. 


	11. A NEW FRIEND

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A NEW FRIEND

            The next morning, Remus, Sirius, Ross, and James were walking up to the Common Room when they heard a commotion in a dark corridor. As they got closer, they heard whimpering and cruel laughter. The boys looked around the corner and saw Severus Snape pointing two wands toward a boy cowering in the corner, his hands over his head.

            James sprang into action, yelling the first spell that came to his mind,

"_Furnunculus_!"

            "_Waddiwasi_!"

            "_Incarcerous_!" 

            "_Accio_!"

            Immediately, Snape began transforming. His face was covered with boils, ropes held him back, and a wand was stuck up his nose. The wand that Sirius had _Accio_ed was zooming toward him.

            "You OK, kid? What happened?" James asked, stepping over Snape to the still trembling boy.

            "Is he gone? Good. I just came here to try to practice some spells. Then he came out of nowhere and took my wand away. He just used the Jelly Legs Spell and that's when I fell. I guess he was going to throw some more spells at me. I'm Peter Pettigrew by the way." The boy said, sitting up. Sirius stepped up to Peter and un-cursed him.

            "Thank you." Peter said.

            "No problem. I'm Sirius Black. This is Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Ross Northrop. We're the Marauders." Sirius said.

            "We are? I never knew." Ross said, looking at Sirius.

            "Oops, sorry. We forgot to tell you. We got that name just last night."

            "No, it was two nights ago. Remember, yesterday Lily and Ross had that yelling contest. Did you two ever make up? Or out?" James asked.

            "Yup, she make my boo-boo all betta." Ross said childishly.

            "Well, Peter. Welcome. You should feel proud of yourself. Not everybody has the pleasure of being friends with Sirius Black. You should feel honored." Sirius said. Peter grinned and the boys cracked up.

            "Are you hurt? Do you need to go to Madame Pomfery?" the ever-practical Remus asked.

            "No. No, I'm fine. Thanks. Where were you guys going?" Peter asked, falling in stride with them.

            "Gryffindor Common Room. What House are you in? I've never seen you around." Sirius said.

            "I'm a 3rd year Hufflepuff. But I'm in Advanced Herbology, so that's probably why you never saw me." Peter explained. They all stopped. "What?"

            "You are in Advanced Herbology? Wow. I heard that it's really tough. So do you know all about plants? It would be really useful if we knew someone with information on magical plants, like Wartroot and Itching Plants." Remus said.

            "Welcome to the Marauders." Sirius said.

            "Really? Wow. Thanks. And what do you need Wartroot and Itching Plants for?" Peter asked.

            "Let's just say, some _experiments_. You'll find out soon enough. If you want some revenge on Snape, meet us outside the Hufflepuff Common Room at 11:30 tonight." Sirius said mysteriously. Peter walked away.

            Meanwhile, Lily was with Jen and her fellow cheerleaders, trying to decide on the two new cheerleaders.

            "Well, how about Sammie Perry? She was pretty good." One of the girls said.

            "She was, but she admitted it that if practice clashed with her other clubs, she'd put them first." Jen argued.

            "Then there is only Heather and Samira left." Jessica Suvack said. Lily groaned. "Yeah, I know that you don't like her, but she was pretty good. And she seems willing.

              "Fine, fine. I guess I have no choice in this." Lily mumbled. Then she brightened up. "When is a good time for practice?  
            "Well, I was thinking on Wednesday and we could post the results tomorrow. That way, we'll be able to get uniforms for them and pom-poms." Jen mused. All the other girls agreed and went their separate ways. As the girls dispersed, Emily and Bridget came over to their friends.

            "So, have you decided yet? Who are the cheerleaders?" Emily asked.

            "Samira and a 5th year named Heather." Jen said, looking for something. "Have any of you seen my Herbology book? I left my homework in there and I gotta finish it today." She said, looking in Bridget's bag.

            "It might be by my bed. I didn't want to come down here to get mine so I just borrowed yours. But where are the boys? What do they call themselves, again? The…" Emily began.

            "The Marauders. They said they were going to the kitchens. But they should be back… now." Jen said as the Marauders came into the Common Room.

            "Hey, where's the food? I thought you were going to the kitchens." Lily asked. "I'm hungry."

            "We ate it. But as we were coming back, we saw Snape attacking this kid, Peter. He's pretty nice. What House is he in, again?" James said.

            "Hufflepuff. And he's in Advanced Herbology! Can you believe it? I wish is was that smart." Sirius said wistfully.

            "Aw, Siri. You _are_smart. Remember all those pranks?" Jen said, comforting Sirius.

            Sirius nodded, "And I almost beat the record for most detentions ever. Only 485 left. I think I'll be able to beat the record from 1689. I'll get more than 1000 detentions.

            "Great ambition, _Siri_." Lily said sarcastically.

~*~ So, what do you think? R/R! I'd like to thank the following:

Lady J. — Thanks for reviewing and I hope you still are reading.

Tiger Lily21 — I'm trying to write more, but I got grounded. I hope I'll be on track again soon.

Thank you everybody else who reviewed!

Another thing I was thinking of doing is writing a quote from a book or movie. Then in your review, you can guess the movie and character who said it. First one is:

            "Brains, yea. But I got brains too. And more than just half of one. How do I know you punks have got what it takes? How do I know you won't run when some goon comes at you with a club?"

                        CLUE! — It's from a Disney movie. Guess and tell me what you think!


	12. QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS

A/N: SunnyDae was right! It was from the Newsies. I love that movie too. Sunny, this chapter is for you and please read my Newsies story and tell me what you think. QUIDDITCH TRY-OUTS 

            "What? At least _I_ will be remembered. I will do something no other student has done before! I will… conquer the land of mischief-makers!"  

            "Cut the crap. All you will do is get another Howler. I actually have ambitions. I plan to become Prefect, then Head Girl. After Hogwarts, I'll train to be a Healer." Lily said.

            "I'm gonna go on and play Quidditch for England." Bridget piped up.

            "You are a good two shoes."

            "Troublemaker." Lily responded

            "Little Miss Priss."

            "Moron."

            "Red head."  
            "Bed head."

            "Midget."

            "Ding dong." 

            "Is that the best you can do? That was so pathetic, I can laugh." Sirius replied, laughing.

            "Oh, yeah? Well laugh now." Lily responded, punching him in the stomach. 

            "Ooff!" Sirius gasped as he got the wind knocked out of him.

            "What did you learn from this, Sirius? Emily asked.

            "You don't want to mess with red-head midgets named Lily; they hit hard." Sirius answered. Lily just gave him a dirty glare and turned toward James.

            "Hey, James."

            "What?"

            "Quidditch tryouts are next Saturday. Chasers, you are a Chaser, right? Well, they try out at 2 in the afternoon." Lily said.

            "Well, duh. Of course in the afternoon. I don't think anyone is crazy enough to make people try out at 2 in the morning." James said, sarcastically.

            "You haven't met George Wood then." Sirius said darkly. "He makes us run at 5:30 _in the morning_ on Saturdays! I can't wait till he graduates."

            "Well, it'll be good exercise." James said optimistically.   
            "Sure. Whatever. Exercise my butt."

            "Sirius, I'm still mad at you." Lily said out of the blue.

            "I didn't realize that you were mad at me. I thought that you just wanted to punch me." Sirius replied, surprised.

            "Why are you mad at him?" 

            "He called me a midget." Lily answered simply.

            "Well… no offense, Lils, but you _are_ short." James responded. Lily tackled him and James went tumbling off the couch. They rolled around for a few moments until they heard an amused voice from the bottom of the stairs.

            "James Potter, are you hurtin' my goil?" Ross asked in a fake Brooklyn accent. "And Miss Lily. Are you cheating on me?" He immediately switched to a proper gentleman from the king's court.

            Lily grinned. "Now why would I do that? We are just friends. We can't be more than that." (A/N: My my, how wrong she is! LOL) James hastily got up and helped Lily up.

            "Nah, wouldn't dream of doing that. She's your girl. I've got to find myself one." James said. Unfortunately, Samira overheard.

            "Jamesie. I mean, James. Did you say that you are looking for a girlfriend? I have the perfect qualities. I'm cute, rich, funny, smart, loyal, good looking, and most importantly, I'm single."

            "Wow Sam… You don't mind if I call you that? Well, Samira. Those are excellent qualities. I'm looking for them in my girlfriend too. But there is just one teensy tiny problemo. You lack all those qualities." And he took off out of the Common Room.

            "Wow, that was harsh. Real harsh. I'm gonna see if she's okay." Lily said, getting up from her current position on Ross's lap.

            "Samira. Are you all right? 

"What do _you_ want? I know you are friends with _him_." Samira responded rudely.

            "I know, but that was really mean even if he doesn't want to go out with you. Don't worry, he'll pay." Lily persisted. 

            "Oh, alright. But that doesn't mean that now all of a sudden we're friends."

            "I wouldn't dream of it." Lily replied, grinning.

            That Friday they were to have their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

            "Who's the new Defense teacher? Leocapri left last year for Africa."

            "I don't know. I heard that it was a woman." Everyone was whispering before their first lesson. A medium-sized woman with light green eyes and curly blonde hair opened the door.

            "Hello class. My name is Professor Summer Conlon. Choose a seat. You may sit with whomever you wish, but I ask you to stay in you chosen seat for the rest of term." The woman said as everyone sat with their own friends. "Well, I'd like to get to know you all better so after I call your name, please tell me if you have a preferred nickname and a little bit about yourself."

            "Sirius Black"

            Sirius stood up. "Sirius is fine. I love playing jokes on Slytherins and I also love girls." He replied, grinning.

            "That's… uh, wonderful. Desirae Cougar. A girl with reddish-brown hair stood up and told them about herself.

            "Lillian Evans."

            "Call me Lily. Well, I have a dog, I'm in Gryffindor, and I'm a cheerleader. That's about it, I guess." It went on like that for the whole period. They finished five minutes before the bell so Professor Conlon let them talk.

            Saturday dawned bright and warm. Sirius, Remus, Ross, and James were at the Quidditch pitch flying around by 9:30. 

            "Do you think he'll make it?" Lily asked Emily who was outside with her, watching the boys soaring in the air.

            Emily shielded her eyes against the sunlight. "Probably. I don't know who else is trying out, but he seems pretty good."

            "Yeah… Ok. This is really boring. Do you want to go do something?"

            "What?"

            "Anything."

            "Fine, let's go… to the kitchens." Emily decided.

            "Great. There'll be some entertainment there. 

            As they were leaving, a voice cried out in pain, "OW! My arm!!" Remus shouted, zooming off towards the ground.

            "Remus? Are you okay?" Emily cried, running over to where he sat on the grass.

            He winced. "Sirius hit a Bludger at me and I didn't see it. I think my arm's broken." They took him to the hospital wing where the nurse made him get some rest. Soon it was time for James to go try out.

            "Okay. All of you are trying out for the Chaser position, correct? If you are not, please leave."  George Wood, the Gryffindor Captain shouted. "First, line up in order from second year to seventh. We will go in order. You will try to get the Quaffle past me and into the hoop by yourself. Then the two other Chasers will work with you so we can see how good you are working together with them. Results will be posted on Monday."

            James was the third one to go up. He did pretty well; he got 9 out of the 10 in and he did great with the other two Chasers.  

            "Great! Next." Wood yelled when James landed. After tryouts, James went up to Kelly Kaiser, one of the Chasers. 

            "Hey, Kelly. Do you think that you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me?" James asked casually.

            "Go to Hogsmeade with the famous James Potter? On a date?" She asked, flirting.

            "Famous? Me? If you say so. So, what is it? Yes or no?" James asked impatiently.

            "Why not. Only I have to get some stuff for my sister's birthday so at noon I gotta go." Kelly replied.

            "Okay. So does your sister go to Hogwarts?" James asked, walking Kelly towards the castle. 

            "No, I'm Muggle born." 

            "Oh. Cool. I'll bet you were shocked when you found out you were a witch." James said.

            "Yeah. I was. Well see you later." She said, going toward the library as James climbed into the Gryffindor common room.

~*~ 

Well, what did you think? R/R and tell me if you have any ideas or suggestions. Um, That's about it besides saying sorry for not posting sooner and thanking:

Here's the Quote of the Chapter:

"I regret that I have but one life to give for my country."

This is a quote from a historic figure from the Revolutionary War. Guess. 

~Daisy~


	13. HOGSMEADE

**Hey… I know I haven't updated in a while, but I was busy w/ me other stories. Sry. Well enjoy and tell!** HOGSMEADE 

            Soon it was Hogsmeade weekend. Lily and Ross were going off by themselves as where James and Kelly. They had all agreed to meet at the pub by noon. 

            "Are you ready? You've been up there for half an hour. It's just Hogsmeade." Ross yelled up the stair to Lily. 

            "Calm down, I'm ready." Lily replied, coming down the stair. She was wearing a jean skirt with a baby blue top and matching tennis shoes. Ross's mouth fell open. Lily giggled and closed his mouth.

            "Catching flies?" she laughed.

            "No. Come on. Finally ready?" he asked, offering his hand. She took it and they left through the portrait hole. In fifteen minutes they were at Hogsmeade, looking in all of the shops.

            "Ah! What is that?" Lily asked.

            "An exploding magazine. When the victim, I mean viewer reaches the page they want to see most, they magazine will explode." An amused cashier told her.

            "Come on Ross. I really don't want more things exploding in my face." Lily said, cleaning out her hair and face.

            "Alright. Where to next?" he asked after buying his things.

            "Well since you let me have a choice…" she began and dragged him to Beautifies, the make-up store. 

            "No, no. Not here. Please. If anyone sees me here, I'll be the laughingstock of all third year." He protested.

            "Yes here. You let me choose. Anyways, if anyone saw you here, they would've been in here too so they can't make fun of you. They'd admit that they were here too." She said, dragging him into the store.

            "Fine, but don't take too long," he pouted.

            "Oh, stop sulking, you baby," she said, looking at some eye shadow.

            "I'm not sulking, and I'm not a baby," 

            "Yes you are," 

            "No I'm not. Oo! Candy," he replied, getting distracted by a display of candy.

            "Edible lipstick. Clever," Lily commented.

            "Are we done, Lilikins?" he pleaded.

            "Just a minute," she said and went up to the cash register to pay.

            "That will be… Lily!" the cashier screamed when she looked up.

            "Lizzie?" she asked. "I didn't know you were a witch!"

            "Wow, you are a witch, my little cousin is a witch!" she said, coming around the counter to hug her cousin. 

            "How are you? It's been like 4 years! Where have you been?" she asked excitedly.

            "I'm just peachy, dear. And who is this?" Lizzie asked, seeing Ross standing by Lily.

            "Oh yea. Ross, this is my cousin, Lizzie. Liz, this is Ross, my boyfriend," she introduced them.

            "Lils, cant we go? Please? It's almost noon." He implored.

            "Fine. Look, he can't wait to get out of here and I promised my friends that I'd meet them at the Three Broomsticks. But I'll talk to you later. Owl me, I'm really bored with no mail at Hogwarts." She said.

            "OK. Did you ever get your laptop to work at Hogwarts?" Lizzie asked. Lizzie, like Lily had grown up in the Muggle world so she also had many Muggle items.

            "Yup. You have my screen name, right?" she asked, taking her cosmetics from Lizzie.

            "Yea. Talk to ya later!" 

            They left and headed for the Three Broomsticks.

**~*~**

**I'd like to thank:**

**Sunny Dae: Right again… No one else tries… try people, try!**

**Well onto the next quote:**

**You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.**

**Clue: This person lived from 1867 – 1947.**

**This might be a little tricky…**

**~Daisy~**


	14. HALLOWEEN HIDEOUT

HALLOWEEN HIDEOUT 

The weeks went by in a flurry of classes, pranks, and fun for the group of friends. On October 15, a notice went up in all the common rooms. This notice was what the whole school would soon be talking about. It said that there would be a Halloween Ball on the 31st.

"So, what are you going to wear?" Emily asked the girls on day after classes.

"I'm goin to wear that spaghetti-strap black dress. What about you?" Lily decided. Jen had decided on wearing an off-the-shoulder black top and black mini-skirt.

"I need help, you guys. Really. I want to look good, but I have nothing to wear." Emily pouted.

"Don't worry. We'll make you look stunning. Is this for any special guy?" Lily asked with a grin.

Emily smiled, "Noo…"

"You are such a bad liar. Come on, who is it for?" Jen asked.

"I don't wanna tell."

"Come on! We. Are. Your. Best. Friends!" Lily said, hitting Emily with her pillow to emphasize her point.

"Fine! I'll tell you." Emily screamed between giggles. As soon as Lily had stopped pummeling her with the pillow, she continued. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone."

Lily acted outraged, "Me? Tell anyone your secret? Never!"

Emily giggled. "Alright, I trust you. Fine, I wanna look good cause… I think Remus is kinda cute."

"OO!" all of the girls squealed. Emily blushed.

"Stop it!"

"Don't worry; you will look so good that Remus's mouth will drop to his feet, and stay there." Jen declared, grabbing a magazine. All the girls laughed as Jen began again. "Okay, so is it just clothes, or hair and makeup too?"

"I don't know. What do you think I should do?" Emily asked, twirling her hair around a finger.

"I think that we'll find you something to wear, then on Halloween, do your makeup and everything. I can't wait!" Lily cried.

All the girls looked at her strangely. "Can't wait for what?"

"The dance. Food, dancing, good music, boys, dressing up." Lily said.

"But you already have a boyfriend. A cute one at that." Bridget piped up.

Lily shrugged. "I know, but it's fun to dance with other guys. It's not much fun if you only dance with one guy."

Lily got up to get a brush and when she turned around, she slipped and fell. "Ow!" she cried, grabbing her foot.

"Wow! Look what you found, Lils." Her friends said in amazement.

"What? Ooo. A secret room." Lily said, getting to her knees.

"How did it get here?" Emily wondered.

"It was probably built here and forgotten. When I fell, I hit my foot against the wall. It must have been a secret brick. And I guess it made the door appear." Lily replied, looking at the room inside. It was very small; none of the girls could get in there while standing up.

"You guys wanna explore it?" Bridget asked.

"Well, duh. Who wouldn't?" Emily asked, grabbing their wands. She gave each girl her own wand.

"Samira wouldn't. She's too afraid of getting dirty." Bridget retorted.

"Yea, well. You don't have to put up with her in cheerleading." Jen grumbled.

"Oh. I forgot. Ha-ha!" Bridget laughed. She lit her wand and the three girls followed suit. They all crawled in to find what they thought to be a room. It was, in fact, a hallway to a larger room. They crawled down to the doorway. It opened to a larger room.

"Wow. This is great. I don't think anyone has been here since, like, forever." Emily said, looking around the dust-covered room.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Lily asked.

"What's that?"

"Since no one knows about this place, we can use it as our own secret room."

"It's so dirty." Jen complained.

"Come one, Barbie. We'll clean it. Don't worry." Bridget replied, heading out the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Lily asked.

"We better come back some other time; we gotta find Emily something to wear." Bridget said.

"Oh, yea. I forgot."

"Alright. So, we're going in Halloween colors. Either orange or black." Lily said once they had settled back into the dorm, this time on the floor.

"Not orange. I don't wanna look like I just came from prison." Emily protested.

"Exactly what I was thinking. So, black it is. I have a long black dress. It's strapless. Wanna wear it?" Lily asked.

"Sure." Emily went to go try it on. It fit her perfectly.

"Hm… We need… _Something_. I got it! How about like a black cape and maybe get some glitter on the dress?"

"And what's that supposed to be?" Emily asked.

"A vampire. I think I've got a charm to elongate your teeth. And if you don't wanna go as a vamp, you can take off the cape and it'll be like a normal dress." Jen explained.

"Sounds great, but will I be able to talk?" Emily asked.

"I don't know. Wanna try now?" Lily asked her.

"Sure. What's the spell?"

"Er… Hold up while I check it." Lily said, rummaging through her trunk. Finally she came up with an old Charms book. She flipped through the pages until she found the right one. "Got it. Here goes. _Canis Elongato_!" she said and Emily's teeth canine teeth grew.

"So, can you talk?" Bridget asked.

"Kinda. It's hard." Emily replied.

"Well, you can just take it off if you say '_Prior Canis_'." Lily told her and Emily's teeth shrunk back to normal.

"Thanks guys. I couldn't have done it without you. So, who are you going with, Jen?"

"Um, Tom Jeglie. He's in Hufflepuff." Jen replied.

"Oh! He's a 4th year! Jen's got an older man. She's scored a 4th year!" Emily sang.

"Yea. So, what about you, Bee?"

"No one. It's more fun that way. I get to dance with all the guys." Bridget replied. There was silence for a minute, until Lily broke it.

"Hey, how come no one asked me?"

"Cuz we all know who you are going with." Jen pointed out.

"Really? How?"

"Duh. Ross is your _boyfriend_. We all know that you'll go with him." Emily added.

Lily grinned sheepishly. "Oh yea. I forgot."

"And I'm the blonde one? I seriously think that you dye your hair red." Jen teased.

"I do not! This is my natural hair color and I love it! It's mine, all mine!" she cackled, grabbing her hair. The rest of the girls were used to it and ignored it.

"Well, I guess we better all go to sleep. And lil Lily better take her medications." Bridget said.

"You're right." Lily said and popped something in her mouth. She made a weird face and grabbed the whole bottle. She dumped it in her mouth and swallowed.

"What did you just do?" all of the girls asked. Lily clutched her stomach and fell to the floor. She lay still for a minute before jumping up.

"Got ya!" she screamed. "That was just candy. Fooled ya. You guys are so gullible. Hey I used a big word." She exclaimed before jumping down the stairs to the Common Room.

Hey, I finally posted. Guys, I'm sooo sorry that I didn't before. I've been grounded so much these last 2 months. But don't worry; already began the new chappie and I'm in Summer break!!! Yes! Well, shout-outs go to:

**Skittles713: I'm glad it got a new reviewer. Hope you like the story. I finally updated. Hope I'm gonna do it more often. **

**Teva: Wow, another new reviewer? I guess people like my story. Thanks. Sorry that I didn't update and I hope you are reading this.**

**Rghishmorg: Interesting penname thingy. Well, hope you like this chappie too. It took me forever to write and it's finally up.**

**Brate101: Sorry it took so long. Updating sooner. That's a promise. Thank you. Hope you read and review!**

**Just letting you know, I forgot who had that quote, so I'm not going to have the quote thingy anymore. If you have any objections, just tell me in your review. Toodles until next time. Review!**


	15. HALLOWEEN

**Ok, well here we go. Um, sorry I didn't update. Lots of crap going on. I'm not even gonna start on y I didn't. well, read and enjoy.**

HALLOWEEN 

When she got to the Common Room, she found Sirius in the same state.

"Siri!"

"Lily!"

"Remy!"

"Jamsie!"

"Dory!"

"Bunny!"

"Wait, who is Dory?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, who is Bunny? And Remus isn't even here." Sirius pointed out.

"Same here. Don't know why. First person that came to mind." Lily answered, jumping from one couch to the other.

"What did you two have for dinner? And never call me Jamesie" James asked from the couch. He was lying down, reading a book.

"Well, I had mashed potatoes and chicken, but I was saving up for dessert. For dessert, I had chocolate pie, treacle tart, candied apple, and a pack of Starburst my mom sent me. And what are you doing, reading? What's wrong with you?" Lily asked, bouncing across the room and grabbing James' arm. "Wait, you're okay. It's just some dumb Quidditch book."

"It's not dumb! Quidditch it great!" Sirius replied, indignant.

"Yea, sure. Okay! Where's Ross?" she asked, bouncing up.

"I think he's upstairs." Sirius said.

"No, he's in the library with Remus. He needed help with some homework." James explained.

"Okay. Thanks." Lily responded, grabbing a book. She threw it down after a couple of minutes.

"Aren't you going to go see him?" Sirius asked. He had calmed down and was finishing an essay for Potions the next day.

"No. I just wanted to know where he was. And since when are you doing homework?" Lily asked, finally calming down.

"Since now. It's due tomorrow and Walgner is threatening to fail me if I don't do my homework. Now, shh. I gotta concentrate." Sirius said, going back to his work. Lily grabbed her novel, sat on the couch and began reading.

"Hey, Lil. Whatcha reading?" James asked her after a few minutes.

"Um, I was gonna read House of the Scorpion, it's a Muggle book, but I just finished it. I'm going to go see a professor. Bye." She replied.

Soon it was October 31 and all the students were getting ready for the Halloween Ball.

"I can't believe it's finally here! This is going to be really fun." Jen exclaimed as the girls were getting dressed.

"Could you imagine what Snape would wear to if it were a costume ball?" Lily asked, giggling.

"Yea. He'd go as himself. And that is scary enough." Bridget giggled. Finally, after a very long time, the girls were ready. They walked down to the common room. Emily had asked Remus to the dance and they were going together. Jen, Sirius, and Bridget left the common room with Lily and Ross, Emily and Remus, and James and Kelly. They walked down to the Great Hall. Upon arriving, they noticed the decorations. Black trees were growing out of the floor, jack-o-lanterns were glowing eerily, and black cats wandered all over.

"Let's go find a table, shall we?" Sirius asked.

"Sure. Sirius? Who'd you bring?" Emily asked, frowning.

"You'll never guess." He replied.

"Sammie."

"Nope."

"Darci"

"Nada."

"Blake."

"Uh… no!"

"Alyson"

"No, but I should have."

"Fine, who?" Emily finally asked.

"Snape." Sirius answered seriously.

"Be serious!"

"But I always am Sirius." He responded gravely.

"Well, I don't think any of us knew you swung that way." Jen grinned.

"Fine. I brought… Kitten." Sirius declared. "I'm not kidding. She's right here." He said and Sirius's monkey appeared.

"Where did she come from?" Remus asked, mildly interested.

James frowned. "Did you take my cloak?" he asked.

Sirius grinned sheepishly. "Yea. Forgot to ask."

"Where did you get a monkey?" Lily asked.

"My uncle gave it to me for my birthday." Sirius shrugged.

"Okay. Well, let's get going." Kelly said, and the all began moving to the tables. They found a large table with enough chairs to seat them all. Dinner was soon served.

"How do we get our food?" Lily asked, when no food appeared on the table.

Jen looked up at the Head table and then said, "Oh, I remember. This is how it was in this restaurant called Tortall. See the menu? You look over it and find what you want. Then say you want chicken, you say it clearly to your plate. Like this." Jen looked over her menu and finally said, "Steak, medium-rare." Immediately, a steak appeared. The others were soon doing the same thing. When the whole Hall had finished with dinner, Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome to the Halloween Ball! Now that everyone is finished with that splendid meal, let me introduce Witch's Broomstick!" Dumbledore roared. The door of the Great Hall opened wide. In came the two girls and two boys that made up the popular wizarding band, Witch's Broomstick. They stepped on to a newly-created stage and instruments appeared in their hands. They began their songs and soon the whole Hall was dancing to the music.

"Students, it is now 12:30 and this ball is over. Thank you for coming. Happy Halloween and good night." Dumbledore announce. Students all over the Hall started groaning. The Gryffindors walked slowly back to their dormitories, reliving the night through thoughts and talking.

"…That was so much fun. I hope we have more balls this year." Lily said, and the girls agreed.

"Hm, wonder why Peter didn't come, though." Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Who's Peter?" Bridget asked curiously.

"He's a third year Hufflepuff. He can't really do spell and that kind of stuff, but he's in Advanced Herbology. We met him a couple of weeks ago when Snape was cursing him. He's pretty cool. He's can get all these plants that can make you fall asleep and lots of cool stuff." Remus said. "Flaming Skies." He added as they reached the portrait.

Hope you like it. Please review. I'd like to thank all my reviewers:

**Tanaqui: Thank you. Hope you like this one too.**

**Holly-evans: they will eventually break up, but not like in the next chapter or anything. But yes, Lily and James WILL get together. Thank you**

**kill lilly get James: love the "kill lil get James thing". Hope you still review. Um… yea. I like red hair so I made Lily like it. Hee hee.**

**Carmel March: here is you dance. Not much tho. I'll have more at the next ball. Yea, I was hyper when I wrote that part.. and the beginning of this chapter. Please review.**

**Thank you everybody. Now, review!!**

**me**

**/. It's just down there!**


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